Manipulated Memories
by Murayama-Tsuru
Summary: When Naruto, Kakashi, and Gai are fighing Tobi, a mysterious girl disrupts their fight. Contains spoilers for chapter 600. You might want to read that chapter but you don't have to, as my story will diverge from the Naruto manga path completely.
1. Prologue: How Come Until Now Redone

**Hello, my name is Murayama Tsuru. I usually write Gintama Fanfiction, but I wanted to try something different this time. I've had this idea for a while, and, after reading Naruto chapter 600, I decided it would be a good place to put this idea to use. Without further ado, here is a rather short prologue, I hope you enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it is the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei. If I did own Naruto, chapter 600 would have been…different**_

Naruto saw the recognition flare in his teacher's face as Tobi unmasked himself. He saw the same recognition in bushy brow's teacher's eyes as well; and he didn't understand it. So he asked who this person was. But it wasn't Kakashi-sensei who answered; instead Gai said, "He was an Uchiha Shinobi that used to be our classmate. I heard he died in a fight during the last Shinobi war."

Kakashi then started talking with his former comrade, "If you've been alive all this time, then how come until now…"

"Whether 'I' survived or not is irrelevant," 'Tobi' interrupted, "But if you really want a reason why, it's because…"

There was a painful beat between the two Sharingan users. 'Tobi's' eyes darkened with hatred and anger as he glared down at Kakashi, "It's because…You let Rin die."

Naruto could see the memory resurfacing in his teacher's eyes as soon as the words left 'Obito's' mouth. It was as if Naruto himself had been punched in the gut, seeing Kakashi-sensei's pained expression. It then morphed into an almost sad expression when he asked if Obito blamed Kakashi.

To the surprise of everyone there, the man started laughing, "No, I do not blame you. With this insignificant reality, what would be the point? I have no interest in the affairs of a world that's about to disappear."

Stealing one last look as his teacher and hating what he saw, Naruto yelled, "Kakashi-Sensei, I don't know what went on between you two but…This isn't the time to be depressed about it! I'll listen to your story later! For now, stopping this guy's plans takes priority, right?"

Gai, catching on to what Kakashi was doing, turned to Kakashi as well and said, "Kakashi, Naruto is right! The fate of the world is in our hands now!" But Kakashi still seemed too stunned to do anything but stand there.

With energy swirling around his Mangekyo Sharingan, 'Tobi' somehow managed to yell out while sucking in a breath at the same time, "Katon…Bakufuu Ranbu"

Seeing as his comrades just were standing there, Naruto used the Kyuubi's tails to protect them. Then out of the rubble that was falling all around them came a voice, "You seem to be having a lot of fun…Obito."

More shocked silence fell on the group as Madara appeared essentially out of nowhere. Feeling, discouraged (A/N, hey man, don't be mad at me, even Naruto can feel discouraged…probably), Naruto watched at the two Uchihas began weaving simultaneous hand-signs in preparation for a Jutsu.

But before the Jutsu was completed, she appeared. She came out of the sky, all icy wings and electric-blue hair radiating upwards like a wave. Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the newcomer; she was wearing something akin to an Akatsuki cape, but it was white instead of black, and the clouds were blue with black outlining instead of red with white outlining.

The girl looked over at Naruto, an apologetic look in her eyes, then she shouted, "Kioku Sousa no Jutsu."

Naruto suddenly felt sleepy; he tried to glare at the woman, but his eyes were too heavy for anything effective. She then walked over to Kakashi and Gai, whispered something, and they disappeared.

The girl then turned to Naruto, and the Kyuubi's Chakra became agitated. It was as if Kurama was trying to warn Naruto, but he couldn't hear it. "Who are you?" Naruto asked his voice thick and heavy with sleep.

She gave him a sad look and whispered, "I'm on your side. My name is Rinrin Kouryu. I don't have time to talk right now. I'll answer any questions you may have later…So please, try not to forget them." Kouryu chuckled then, and Naruto couldn't help the bubble of laughter that peeled out of his mouth as well; 'I must be really tired," Naruto thought, 'if I'm laughing at strange girl's jokes.

She then whispered, "Shunkaidou" and he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness. For a second he thought he saw a light, almost white, blue dragon in the girl's place. The dragon's eyes seemed to look directly into his soul, saying "Calm down Kurama, I will make sure no harm comes to the boy. I can protect him." And Naruto fell into a dark, blissful sleep, wondering the dragon's meaning.

**And that ends the prologue. I know it was short, and I think, probably, most of the chapters will be short as well. Also, I'd just like to say that I was really disappointed in chapter 600 of Naruto, if you couldn't tell. It irritated me that Kishimoto-Sensei made Obito the bad guy. So, this story is sort of a reaction to that chapter. It's also sort of inspired by the latest Naruto movie in Japan. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you like, please leave a review, they are always appreciated.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	2. Why Does Everything Seem So Different?

**Hey Murayama Tsuru here. I bring to you all the actual first chapter of this story. As I said before, the chapters are going to be relatively short…that's all I really have to say right now. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei**_

Morning came upon Konoha Gakure and Naruto was tossing and turning, in the clutches of a vivid nightmare. Now, this wasn't an unusual occurrence for him; but this morning he was woken up by a gentle, motherly voice, "Naruto, wake up! It's only a dream, you'll be fine." Naruto's eyes opened suddenly to see a woman with long, straight red hair, and a worried look on her face. He looked at the woman and a single tear rolled down his cheek. He blinked it away, and with sleepy recognition he addressed the woman, "Kaa-chan…"

Naruto then smiled and got out of bed, giving his mom a hug, "thanks for waking me up."

"It's what us mothers do, sweetie. Well, get dressed now, breakfast will be waiting for you when you come down." She then walked out of his room; Naruto watched his mom's retreating form, a slightly confused look adorning his features. As he got dressed, Naruto began thinking, "Wait…how did my Kaa-chan wake me up…wasn't she kil…" before he could finish his thought, pain lanced though his head and he sunk to the floor, clutching his head.

After a second though, the pain was gone and Naruto forgot his previous thought completely. Naruto stood, more confused than ever, and continued getting dressed.

Once Naruto was finished, he went downstairs and was greeted with the sight of a man who looked very much like him, but his hair was longer and he looked more world-weary. Upon seeing his son, Namikaze Minato grinned, "I see your mom got you up early again. But then again, maybe that's a good thing; we actually get to see you this morning."

Naruto grinned back, "You know that's not true Tou-chan. I always try to get up before noon, but my I never seem to be able to hear my alarm clock."

"And nor should you. You're a kid, there's no need to worry about getting up early, your mom just likes to see you in the morning every once in a while. But, I believe today, she woke because there's training you have to do with Kakashi."

At the mention of Kakashi, an image of a swirly, orange mask popped into his head. But just as soon as the image came, another jolt of pain ran through Naruto's head. Knowing it wouldn't last, Naruto tried to endure the headache without showing it on his face, as not to worry his parents.

He must not have done a very good job, because once the pain had subsided, his father was looking at him, a worried expression on his face, "Son, are you ok?"

"Yeah, Tou-chan, I'm fine."

"If you say so. The last time you made that face, though, was when you were trying to hide that you had an upset stomach after drinking that bad milk." Naruto grimaced as the memory surfaced. But for some reason, this particular memory didn't involve his parents at all. He only reflected on it for a moment, but didn't think it important enough to worry about.

After a leisurely breakfast his dad ended up cooking (his mom had eventually given up, after too many burned or otherwise failed attempts). Naruto enjoyed his time with his parents immensely, and he couldn't help but think this was the first time he'd ever had done something like this before. He had vague memories of eating at this table, alone, and it warmed his heart to know his parents were here with him.

Suddenly the loud, slightly annoying to other peoples' ears, voice of Sakura floated in through the window, "Naruto, if you don't get your butt down here soon, we'll be later than Kakashi-sensei for training today."

Naruto then jumped up, said a quick goodbye to his parents, and raced out of the house before Sakura became too impatient.

Once he was outside, he stopped short when he saw a familiar, frowning, spikey black-haired (that almost looked like a cockatoo's feathers) Ninja. Naruto's jaw dropped and, almost completely ignoring Sakura, asked incredulously, "Sasuke?! What are you doing here? I thought you—"

Naruto was cut off by a wince as another wave of pain hit him. Trying to keep his face blank, Naruto almost missed what Sasuke said in response, "Don't get the wrong idea, Dobe. I only came because Sakura insisted I accompany her when she came to get you."

Naruto chuckled, hearing the familiar nickname, and Sasuke gave him a funny look. But before Sasuke could insult Naruto further, Sakura hurried them on to their usual training site.

As usual, the three got to the grassy field before Kakashi. Due to a considerable amount of waiting, Naruto had some time to think about the other set of memories he was seeing. If he lightly touched the memories, he could distinctly remember Sasuke leaving Konoha and his parents being dead. But, any deeper thought brought near blinding pain, forcing him to stop thinking almost immediately. From time to time, both Sakura and Sasuke gave him funny looks; they did not understand how Naruto wasn't chattering away like he usually did.

After some more waiting, Kakashi finally arrived, a girl around Naruto's age following behind. Once Kakashi had gotten everyone's attention, he announced, "Everyone, I have an announcement. The Hokage has assigned us a new team member for the new Ninja exchange program," he then turned to the girl, "Alright, you can introduce yourself."

The girl nodded, and Naruto's eyes widened; he recognized this girl from somewhere, a dream perhaps, but before he could even entertain his thought, she started talking, "It's nice to meet you three. On the way over here, Kakashi-sensei told me much about you. My name is Rinrin Kouryu. I'm from Tatsu Gakure." Sasuke nodded in her direction, looking slightly less bored than usual. Sakura smiled at Kouryu and said, "It's nice to meet you too, Rinrin-san."

"Please, call me Kouryu, Sakura-chan." She smiled and memory rose up to the surface of Naruto's mind like a bubble; a battle with an unmasked annoyance, this girl coming down from the sky and casting a Jutsu…before the memory could reveal more of itself to Naruto, it popped out of his head and Naruto felt a cold glare.

Naruto looked up to see Kouryu's, a light almost white blue, eyes on him. Her pupils then became slits, almost like a snake's...or a dragon's, and a voice echoed in his head, "stop trying to remember. If you do, the Jutsu will become undone and he will come find you."

Naruto was about to ask what the hell she meant, but she had already turned to Kakashi who was explaining the training they were going to today to get Kouryu oriented to Konoha's ways.

**And that ends the first chapter. Before you say anything, yes I know Naruto's parents are dead, and Sasuke isn't supposed to be here. If you're confused, don't worry everything will be explained in later chapters. Another thing, Naruto does call his parents Tou-chan and Kaa-chan; I'm not making it up! Well…it has been a while since I read that part in Japanese…but I don't think I'm wrong. Also, I'm amazed at the response I got last chapter; I didn't really expect so many people to read it. Thank you to everyone who gave this story a try, and I hope you will continue to support this humble crane. As always reviews are greatly appreciated. See you next chapter.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	3. The Mystery Around the New Girl Deepens

**Hey, Murayama Tsuru here. Uh…I honestly don't think I have anything to say at the beginning right now without giving away stuff that's going to happen in this chapter. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (my fingers wanted to type in Gintama here); it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei (and I wanted to type in Sorachi Hideaki here).**_

Training with Kouryu had been interesting. Kakashi-sensei had them do a variant of the bell exercise they had done the first time they had ever trained with him. There were still two bells; but since there were four people Kakashi split them up into two groups and the first group to get both bells would win. Kakashi then explained to Kouryu how the original test worked; the losers were forced to watch the winners eat lunch (he purposefully left out; again, that the winners sharing their lunch with the losers was how you really passed). Kouryu nodded, a knowing smile adorning her lips. Naruto wondered if Kouryu knew the real objective of this test; and what outcome she was hoping for.

Kakashi then pulled out four sticks from his vest and told everyone to choose one. Naruto had been hoping to be paired with Kouryu so he could ask her what she meant when she said he'd ruin the Jutsu. But, luckily or unluckily depending on how you look at it, Naruto ended up with Sakura.

Naruto watched as Sasuke and Kouryu started talking to each other; it was odd, Sasuke uncharacteristically hit it off with the blue-haired girl. Sasuke seemed to be having fun, a small smile playing at his lips; it stirred up an emotion that Naruto couldn't define deep inside him.

The same time Naruto felt this unidentifiable emotion, Sakura hissed, "We are going to take her down Naruto!"

Naruto, half-forgetting Sakura's irrational jealousy toward any female that got close to Sasuke, jumped half a foot seeing the hot, fiery passion in her eyes.

"S-Sakura-chan…" Naruto hesitated, knowing how wrong this could go, "I-I'm all for beating Sasuke…But I think Kouryu isn't actually flirting with him."

"You shut up! I know flirting when I see it!" she whispered fiercely at him

"Y-yes ma'am…" Naruto's shoulders slumped, defeated.

Kakashi chose then to yell out lazily, "Hey you guys, you need to finish up by noon, O.K? I have bet…I mean other things to do."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura glared at their teacher and Kouryu put a hand up to her mouth, unable to suppress her smile. Kakashi ignored all the reactions and signaled for them to start.

Almost immediately, Sasuke and Kouryu got one of the bells. It may have been his imagination, but Naruto thought he saw Kouryu's eyes darken into a deep, sapphire blue; Naruto blinked in surprise, it looked like Kouryu had a blue Sharingan, but the Tomoe were in the opposite direction. But when he looked again, it was gone, and Kouryu's eyes had gone back to their original light color.

Naruto's head then went out of the training and on to who Kouryu was. He really couldn't figure it out, every time he tried to remember something he was stopped by a jolt of pain and a glare from Kouryu.

While he was semi spacing out, Sakura managed to get the other bell from Kakashi. Kakashi, deciding that he was no longer needed and went off to read the latest Make Out Paradise volume ('but isn't Jirai…' another cut off thought, another jolt of pain, and another icy glare).

So the two teams ended up playing the Ninja version of hide-and-seek until around five minutes before noon. That was when Kakashi called out to all of them to remind them to finish up, and Sakura became even more fired up than before.

Naruto, still only half paying attention to the training, nodded absent-mindedly when Sakura told him that they should split up to look for the other team. So Naruto began wandering aimlessly around, lost in his thoughts, not really thinking about looking for anybody.

After a while, though, he spotted Kouryu just sitting in the middle of a clearing, eyes closed, in what seemed like a Zazen stance. Naruto was about to go talk to her when he heard Sakura shout, "Naruto! I've found Sasuke and he has the bell. All you need to do restrain Kouryu until I can get it."

Naruto blinked, regaining his senses; what was he doing spacing out during training like this. He then heard Kouryu chuckle, "I wonder if she'll actually manage to get it. Sasuke doesn't have the real bell, I do." She then took out a bell from an unforeseen pocket in her cape.

Naruto looked at her, confusion written on his face and she chuckled again, "Henge no Jutsu" she said. Naruto realized what the two had planned as Sakura yelled, horrified, "S-Sasuke-kun, w-what is this?"

Naruto had to strain his ears to hear Sasuke's much quieter reply, "You didn't really think it'd be that easy did you? Kouryu was right when she said you'd come after me. So she gave me that and transformed it into a bell. Hopefully by now, Kouryu's restrained Naruto, so I can look for the bell on your person."

Naruto rolled his eyes; Sakura was going to have a way too much fun bragging about how Sasuke felt her up later. He was about to go help Sakura when he heard a small, clear chime from his pocket; it was then that he remembered that he was the one with the bell.

Naruto, suddenly aware that Kouryu was behind him, turned around quickly, ready to create some Kage Bunshin if the need arose. But Naruto swaetdropped when he saw that the blue-haired Ninja had turned tail and was running toward the forest near the clearing.

Naruto, a little miffed that Kouryu didn't want to stay and fight him, ran after her. It might have been his imagination, but Kouryu seemed to slow down after a minute. It must not have been his imagination, because he caught up to her soon after he thought his.

It was weird, it was like she didn't sense his presence, but he could feel a smile spread across her face as he reached out toward the bell hanging in an obvious place on her cape. Naruto himself grinned as his hand closed around the bell; but he was cut off by a shrill whistling sound.

Naruto stopped short when he saw Kakashi next to him. "That's enough, Naruto, time's up" Kakashi said in his usual bored tone.

"But Kakashi-sensei, I was so close to getting her bell!"

Kakashi shrugged, "Well, that's too bad. Time's up, so you'll just have to deal with it."

Kakashi then lead Naruto and Kouryu back to the clearing where Sasuke and Sakura were standing; Sasuke looked bored as usual, but Sakura looked a little breathless and was avoiding looking at Sasuke. Kakashi then announced, "Alright, since both teams failed to get both bells, each team will get a lunch box to share. Any questions?"

After a moment, Sakura timidly raised her hand, but Kakashi ignored it and said, "If there are no questions other than about sharing lunch with the other team then I'll be going. Have a good rest of the day." He then produced two lunch boxes and left, his nose in his volume of Make Out Paradise.

Lunch was strained on Sakura's part because she had wanted to eat with Sasuke. Naruto was happy to be eating with Sakura even though she would glare over at Sasuke and Kouryu from time to time. The other two shared the lunch box with each other like it was no big deal; which Naruto thought it wouldn't be if Sasuke knew Kouryu had a variant of the Sharingan.

Once lunch was over, the four figured they had the rest of the day off. Sasuke, surprisingly, suggested that they all show Kouryu around the village, but she declined, "I'm sorry, any other time I'd have taken you up on your offer, but I have some paperwork to do for the Ninja transfer program." With one last apology, Kouryu left and team 7 decided to spend the day together; it seemed like something they hadn't done in a long, long time.

**And that ends the second chapter. For those who want to know Tomoe are comma-looking things in the Sharingan. Also, Henge means transformation…I really hope you guys know what Kage Bunshin means…If you don't…um…that'd be pretty sad. Well anyway, that's enough of my Japanese translations. Another thing, don't be mad at me because I'm using something similar to the Sharingan for Kouryu, it will be different and it will be explained next chapter ^_^ well until then, please review, I'd love to know what you guys think.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	4. Footsteps On The Roof Can Be Troubling

**Hello, Murayama Tsuru here. I have returned with the third chapter. But before that, I'd like to make a small announcement. I got a rude review last week. I'd just like to say in response that Rinrin Kouryu has nothing to do with Rin, Kakashi's old teammate. My character's name is written like this: ****凛々コウリュ****. Rinrin means frigid or awe inspiring or breathtaking and Kouryu, though I misspelled it a little, means ice dragon. I named her this because…well…you'll find out in this chapter. Now that I've explained it, the name's not all that clever anymore to me…SO, I guess what I mean to say is that if you don't like my story, please don't review. I'd love to hear constructive criticism, but if you don't have a nice way to say it, then kindly keep your trap shut. Well, that's all I have to say on the subject. So, enough with my ranting, please enjoy this chapter as well.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (again, I wanted to and almost did type in Gintama); it is the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

In late afternoon, Naruto arrived home tired and happy. There had been no missions today, which was a little unusual; but Naruto wasn't complaining. Spending time with Sasuke and Sakura was nostalgic in a way that almost made tears come to Naruto's eyes.

When Naruto walked in his front door, his mother came over to him and wrapped him up in a bear-hug. After a happy moment, Naruto realized that he was no longer able to breathe. He started flailing when he started feeling light-headed. His mom, getting the message, let go and smiled at him. Naruto, suddenly feeling embarrassed, scratched the back of his head and said shyly, "Kaa-chan, what was that for?"

Uzumaki Kushina laughed heartily, "What's wrong with hugging my son?" Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked away from his mom, mumbling an incoherent 'no'. Kushina laughed again and ruffled her son's hair then motioned him to come over for dinner.

The rest of the evening went on rather calmly. It was a peaceful evening, Naruto just spending, what seemed to him, like well-deserved time with his parents. They both told him stories from the times they were kids; Naruto fell into stiches at many of the stories and marveled at many feats they did during their time they were active Ninjas.

Eventually, the conversations ended and they all went to bed. Naruto fell into his bed felling extremely tired and happier that he had felt in a long time.

But after a while of peaceful sleep, the almost-nightmares began. It started in the middle of what seemed to be an important battle; there was a familiar looking man in an annoying orange mask and a Sharingan, Kakashi looking aghast and sad, Gai looking…well…like Gai, and another man with long hair and a Sharingan. Naruto tried to move as the two Sharingan users started attacking his teammates. But, his legs were stuck and he couldn't move an inch. Also, he tried to use the Kyuubi's chakra but nothing happened. In utter despair, Naruto watched as the two Uchihas, because that's all they could be with the Sharingans, killed his comrades.

And then Naruto woke up, drenched in a cold sweat and gasping for breath. Hearing footsteps, he sat up preparing to tell his parents there was nothing to worry about, it was only a dream. But his door never opened and his parents never came in. Naruto still heard the footsteps, though, so he listened to them more closely. The footsteps sounded rhythmic, like some form of dance, coming from somewhere above him.

Naruto got out of bed and climbed out the nearby window. He then walked up the side of his house to the roof. As Naruto scaled the wall, the footsteps got louder. He thought himself lucky because tonight was a full moon so he would be able to see whoever it was easily. When he hopped, as silently as he could, onto his roof, he saw her.

Kouryu was on his roof doing what looked like some sort of ritual. She was weaving hand-signs and walking in a circle. Then, every once in a while, she would stop and look at an image that Naruto couldn't see. After looking at the image for a while, she would rearrange things, take things out of, or put things into the image. Naruto couldn't actually see what she was doing, but he could feel the power of her blue Sharingan from where he stood.

Naruto must have made some of sort of sound then, because Kouryu started guiltily. She turned around and leveled a cold glare at whoever was behind her. But, seeing it was Naruto, she sighed and said tiredly, "Naruto, what are you doing here?"

Naruto blinked, "What do you mean 'what am I doing here'? This is the roof of my house, if anything, that's the question I should be asking?"

"Yes," Kouryu nodded in agreement, confusing Naruto, "You're right, this is the roof of your house. I probably should tell you what I'm doing up here. But…"

"But what?" Naruto snapped, feeling irritable from sleep deprivation.

Kouryu seemed to be having an internal debate with herself, but after a while she said, "I'm not sure what effect it will have on this Jutsu."

"What?" Naruto said, alarmed now that Kouryu was a Ninja spy, "You cast a Jutsu on us? What kind of Jutsu is it?"

"A Jutsu of protection of sorts…" Kouryu answered thoughtfully

"What does that even mean?" Naruto asked, more confused than ever. But it seemed as though Kouryu hadn't heard him. She looked like she was having a silent conversation, and Naruto became even more confused because he couldn't see anyone else around.

After a moment or two, Kouryu nodded to herself then walked over to Naruto. Naruto confused and apprehensive started backing up. Kouryu rolled her eyes at Naruto and waved her hand out in an arc in front of herself.

Naruto scoffed when nothing happened after a few seconds. But soon, Naruto heard a strange whooshing-crackling sound. Not thinking much of it, Naruto turned to leave. But he found his feet were stuck to the ground. He then looked down to see why, and found that a thick layer of ice had formed around his feet.

Naruto looked up again, alarmed, and saw that Kouryu was advancing toward him again. He struggled to uproot his feet from the ice, but to no avail, he was stuck fast.

Naruto shrank back as Kouryu reached a hand out toward him. Kouryu touched Naruto's forehead with her outstretched hand and with the other mad a fist with two fingers pointing up and said "Kai."

Naruto felt like he was falling into a deep lake. The memories of events past flooded into his mind and threatened to drown him. He now knew that he was right; his parents and Jiraiya were dead, the man in the mask was Tobi/Obito Kakashi's former comrade, and Sasuke had left Konoha. There were so many memories, that eventually they overwhelmed him and he passed out.

* * *

When Naruto came to, the ice was gone and Kouryu was sitting across from him, looking at him intently. Naruto jolted upright, then and yelled, "What the hell did you just do to me!"

Kouryu pressed a finger to her lips, "Not so loud, Naruto-kun. You wouldn't want to wake the neighbors or your parents, would you?"

"How could I wake my parents, they're dead aren't they?"

Kouryu looked hurt and nodded sadly, "Yes, unfortunately your parents are dead. But some illusions were necessary in making this Jutsu more complete."

Naruto glared, "What are you talking about? What Jutsu? What illusions?"

Kouryu nodded and started explaining, "You see, in order to forestall Obito and Madara's plans, I sealed Konohagakure away from them. But in order for the residents not to become suspicious that the war they were fighiting in suddenly ended, I had to cast a Jutsu that would manipulate their memories. The Jutsu is called Kioku Sousa no Jutsu…"

"But wait," Naruto interrupted, "Why would you need to create illusions of dead people if you had this Jutsu is place? And how did you even do it?"

"Well," Kouryu said and her eyes darkened into the blue Sharingan Naruto had seen earlier, during the training excercise, "I have an ocular Jutsu similar to the Sharingan of the Uchihas. But, unlike the Sharingan, this Aojaringan of mine can only make illusions absolutely solid. It can see through other Gen Jutsu, but it can't copy other Ninjas' attacks."

Naruto nodded thoughtfully and Kouryu continued, "As to why I did it. There are some people that seem so important to you people that I had to create them for you. Like your parents, or Sasuke's brother, or your friend's teacher…"

"That…makes sense," Naruto said after a pause, "So, did you bring back pervy sage too, then?"

Kouryu shook her head. Naruto, shocked, was about to ask why. But Kouryu responded before he could, "I would have brought back Jiraiya. But when I looked into your memories, it seemed to me that you had accepted his death. But I did make it so that you guys think he's out wandering, if that's any consolation."

Naruto sighed deeply, but didn't contradict her. The two then sat in silence for a little while, Naruto absorbing everything he just learned and Kouryu seemed to be having another silent conversation.

Naruto then asked, out of the blue, "So why are you doing this Kouryu?"

Kouryu smiled, "Because we're similar, you and I."

"Huh?"

"You see, I'm also a Jinchuuriki, for a frigid ice dragon."

**So that's it for this chapter. No, I'm not sorry for leaving you guys hanging ^_^ it's just like an actual Naruto chapter, ending at a crucial point. So now it's time to explain Kouryu's Jutsu. ****記憶操作の術****(Kioku Sousa no Jutsu) means memory manipulation Jutsu. It's kinda self-explanatory in English, but if you didn't notice it's the title of this story ^_^. And Aojaringan, if you couldn't guess means blue Sharingan. well, I hope yo see you guys next chapter as well. Until then, please review, I love to hear what you guys think. But, if you have some criticism of my story, please tell me nicely, or I will be forced to retaliate in kind.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	5. Some Mysteries are Finally Solved

**Hey, Murayama Tsuru here. I bring you the fourth chapter. It's part two of the explanation chapters. This chapter was a little harder to write than the last one, but I had a good time coming up with the backstory. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it ^_^.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (argh, I almost typed in Gintama again!); it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei (Somehow, though, I have no trouble typing in Kishimoto Masashi's name here).**_

"You're a what?!" Naruto's mouth gaped wide at Kouryu's announcement. But instead of repeating herself, she started laughing. When Kouryu's laughter didn't abate, Naruto asked, slightly annoyed, "What's so funny? Are you laughing at me?"

The girl's laughing quieted down to a chuckle, and she looked a little passed Naruto, not hiding now that she was talking to her Bijuu, "You were right, he didn't believe me."

There was a response that Naruto didn't hear, ans after one last giggle left her lips and she looked at Naruto again, "I'm a Jinchuuriki, just like you. My Bijuu is an ice dragon."

"Yeah," Naruto asked, "I heard you the first time, it was just a little hard to take. So, how many tails does your Bijuu have?"

Kouryu hesitated so Naruto decided to take a guess instead, "Are you the ten tails that Tobi's been trying to summon?"

She chuckled and shook her head, so Naruto guessed again, "Eleven tails?"

"No," Kouryu replied, "I think, I better she'll be a lot better at explaining this than I would."

Naruto raised a questioning eyebrow when a cold wind started up. The wind lifted Kouryu's hair slightly and Naruto noticed that her appearance had changed a little. She seemed to be sitting a little straighter and the pupils of her eyes turned into slits, like a snake's. When she started speaking again her voice seemed wiser and more commanding. This new version of Kouryu started speaking without telling Naruto who she was,

"When my existence began, I was normal…well, as normal as a dragon can be. I spent most of my time in the mountains, because I thrive better in icy climates. But there were times when I descended the mountains and observed the human villages. On one of my trips, I met an intriguing man. He was the man you know as the Sage of Six Paths. I found him to be an interesting individual because, he, unlike so many of the other humans I had encountered before, wished for peace in that time of endless war. At first I just watched him from afar, finding amusement in what he was trying to do. But soon, I myself started believing in the peace he was trying to profess. I knew he noticed me watching me, but we never spoke to each other.

"One day, though, he disappeared, and I heard nothing of him for a long time. I tried asking the humans who I saw, but they just ran in fear; they must have thought I was going to eat them. How ridiculous, I prefer creatures, whose blood isn't so wrought with emotions. But I digress, that is a conversation for another time.

"The next time is met the sage, he was different. He seemed to be struggling with a power he couldn't quite control. Again, I just observed him, feeling slightly worried about what he had done. I'd begun hearing rumors from both humans and the other beings the he had fought, and beat the ten-tails. There had been one time I met the beast, and it was the first time I had ever been scared of another sentient being. I highly doubted that the sage would have defeated the being that even I was scared of. But, once I had heard so many rumors, I decided to ask the man about what happened.

"When I approached him, he turned to me and said, 'Ah, so you've finally decided to find me. I've been waiting for you, frigid ice dragon'. I was taken aback at first that he remembered me. He must have noticed my surprise, because he continued speaking, 'You see, there's a favor I've been wanting to ask you. But, I've found that speaking to your kind first tends to go wrong. So I waited here and now you've come, just as I expected.'

"He then told me about his battle with the ten-tails and how he had sealed it inside himself, making him the first Jinchuuriki. He told me, though, that the seal would break when he died and the ten tails would come back and seek revenge on the world as well as his plan to split to the ten-tail's power into nine vessels that he was going to create.

"He then asked me if I would help him out with his Jutsu. As a contingency plan, he wanted to implant a sliver of the ten-tail's power into me. He told me that he had chosen me because he had learned that dragons were more resilient to invasions of foreign chakra than any other being.

"At first I was averse to the sage's plan. But the more he told me about it, the more sense it made. I eventually agreed and he then told me that even though he would not seal me into the belly of a human one day I would find the person that I was to bond with and share this power that he was about to bequeath to me. He then performed the Jutsu on me. I was then able to use as much or as little of the Ten-tail's power as I wanted. But the use, the less duration I can use it for. For example, I could be as powerful as Kurama, if I needed to. But that level of power would not last as long as when I would use the same power as the Shukaku."

And with that, the dragon's explanation came to an end. Naruto nodded thoughtfully, it made a certain amount of sense. Naruto may not have known much about the Sage of Six Paths, but from what he'd heard other people say, it sounded like something he would do. As Naruto was absorbing this bit of information, a question popped into his head, "Hey, Kouryu's dragon, how did you come to choose Kouryu as your host?"

Through Kouryu, the dragon smiled, "You really aren't as dumb as people make you out to be. That was, indeed, the next thing I was going to explain to you. May I, Kouryu, explain to Naruto how we met?" Naruto heard a faint 'yes' on a breeze that floated by. The dragon definitely heard it to because she started her explanation again,

"When the Sage's Jutsu was complete, I retreated to the mountains as to not tempt anyone to try to use my power for their own gain. Eventually the mountain I retreated to became known as a shrine of some sorts. The nearby villagers would send up human sacrifices to me once a year. Of course I never killed anyone. I sent them down the other side of the mountain into a neighboring village.

"This happened for many years. And one day there was an infant on the mountain. I wasn't sure whether the babe was an orphan or the parents had too many mouths to feed. But either way, the child was abandoned as a sacrifice to me. I decided immediately, that I would bring the infant to the village on the other side of the mountain. But as I got closer to the child, something clicked into place. I felt a mysterious connection between the two of us.

"It was then I knew this child was the child the Sage had spoken about. I then performed another Jutsu the Sage had shown me on how seal myself within the child. That's really all there is too it. I watched Kouryu grow up and taught her many of the skills she knows now." With that, the cold wind died down, Kouryu blinked, and Naruto could tell the dragon had retreated back inside Kouryu.

Kouryu grinned at him, "Well I guess, hearing that must be more than a little shocking, huh?"

"Yeah, it's all a little hard to absorb." Naruto nodded

"Yeah, there's one more thing I should mention. You really shouldn't tell anyone about what you heard tonight."

"Why not?" Naruto wasn't actually planning on telling anyone, like anyone would believe him anyway, but he still wanted to know why he couldn't.

"Because if you do, the Kioku Sousa no Jutsu will wear off for them. They'll either disappear or, if they then decide to leave, a hole in my seal of Konohagakure will form, alerting Obito and Madara where we are. Catch my drift?"

Naruto didn't at first, but as he thought about it, he understood what she meant. If he told Sasuke about this, he would regain his memories again and he'd most definitely leave or try to destroy the village. Or if he told his parents about this, they would disappear, because they are just illusions. Realizing this, Naruto chuckled nervously, "Yeah, I really won't be telling anyone about this. It probably wouldn't be a very good thing would it."

"Yup." Kouryu smiled. As the conversation came to an end, Naruto felt exhaustion threaten to claim him there. So he stood up to leave, sleep sounding very tempting at the moment. But before he left the roof, another thought came to him, "Kouryu, why did you use your Aojaringan during training today?"

This time it was Kouryu's turn to chuckle nervously, "Ahahaha, that was habit, really. Whenever a fight starts, I tend to look and see if there are any illusions to see through." Naruto understood what she meant, he had his habits as well. And since he didn't feel like questioning her anymore, he gave her one last nod and returned to his bed where sleep claimed him almost right away.

**And that ends this chapter. I hope my explanation wasn't too farfetched. Since we don't really know too much about the Sage of Six Paths, it should be ok! I think…hope…it could fit in with Naruto canon…but if it doesn't, oh well. This is basically an alternate universe Naruto story anyway, so it's probably fine…right? Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well, and I hope to see you next chapter too. As always, reviews are always appreciated, I love to hear what you guys think.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	6. Sasuke Has a Very Weird Deam Part 1

**Hello, Murayama Tsuru here. I'm back with the fifth chapter! It's a little different than last chapter because it's focus is not on Naruto. I don't want to say anymore, so I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei (Yes! I had no trouble writing Naruto this time!)**_

It started out as concern for his teammate; he hadn't meant to watch them talk like some kind of stalker. He had been walking back from the store after his brother had asked him to go to get something after dinner. Sasuke had grumbled at first, but he eventually went because it felt like something he hadn't done in a long time. Sasuke had the strangest feeling that he'd been boiling in hatred of his brother for a long time, and it made little sense to him.

On the back he walked by Naruto's house. He saw Naruto on the roof with their new teammate, Kouryu. Naruto seemed to be trying to escape, but his feet were trapped in what looked like a thick layer of ice. Kouryu then touched Naruto's forehead in a way that reminded Sasuke of the way Itachi poked Sasuke's head when they were younger. Kouryu then said something Sasuke couldn't hear, Naruto's eyes opened impossibly wide, and then he collapsed.

Sasuke was about to jump onto that roof himself and confront Kouryu about this. He may not be Naruto's biggest fan, but this didn't look like something he could ignore. But before Naruto crashed headfirst into his roof, Kouryu caught him and eased him the rest of the way down. She then said something else Sasuke couldn't hear, an apologetic look on her face. Seeing this, Sasuke decided to observe a little longer, to see how things played out between the two of them.

When Naruto woke up, he looked different, like something lost had been returned to him. Sasuke watched the two talk for a while and felt a strange sense of jealousy toward the two; they seemed to share some sort of kinship that he and Naruto didn't have. It wasn't as if he liked Kouryu like that (he didn't really like any girl like that; really he just didn't like people, they tended to be more burdensome than helpful), but he didn't quite like that someone had a bond with the blond Ninja that he didn't have.

Sasuke had thought for a long time that he and Naruto had a bond that they didn't have with the people around them. But now, looking at Kouryu and Naruto, they had a bond he couldn't touch. It made him angry; but not that there was a bond he didn't have with Naruto, but with Kouryu as well. He had thought, during training this morning that he felt a similar power to the Sharingan. For a reason he couldn't really explain, the fact that she might have a Sharingan too made him feel more comfortable with her joining their team.

But, watching the two of them together pissed him off for some reason. So a little while later, deciding that Naruto wasn't in any danger after all, Sasuke left in disgust, a scowl forming on his lips. Naruto had probably never been in any danger in the first place, Kouryu was probably just trying to tell him something and Naruto had misunderstood like the idiot he was and tried to run away. All in all, it had probably been a waste of Sasuke's time to stop and watch them.

When Sasuke got home, Itachi noticed his little brother's bad mood he asked, "Sasuke, I asked you to get milk almost forty-five minutes ago. What took you so long?"

Sasuke's scowl half-disappeared, hearing Itachi's voice, "Just saw something that may have needed my attention, Nii-san. But it was a waste of time, sorry I took so long."

"It's not a problem Sasuke. One question, though, what was it that captured your attention so much?"

"Really, it was nothing Nii-san. I'm going to go to bed now; I've had a long day."

Itachi frowned lightly, "Good night then, Sasuke. But you shouldn't hide things from me. If it's something you need to talk about, then I'll be here for you."

Sasuke nodded, but still didn't feel like saying anything to his brother, and went into his room. He hadn't actually lying when he said he was going to bed; he had had a long day. Once Sasuke was ready to sleep, he fell into his bed and sleep overtook him almost right away.

* * *

_She and he were walking in the woods that surrounded his neighborhood. They were going to the Monthly Junior Uchiha Clan Meeting. While he was walking along like there was nothing wrong, she was walking a little ways behind him, looking nervous. When the two were outside the building, the little girl asked, "Sasuke-kun, is it really ok for me to be here? I thought non-Uchihas weren't allowed into these meetings."_

"_Oh, don't worry about that Kouryu," Sasuke brushed her off, "Since Itachi's not going to be there, I'll introduce you as my cousin if they ask. They won't know you're not an Uchiha as long as you don't contradict me."_

"_But what if they ask me to prove I'm an Uchiha by telling me to show my Sharingan? I don't…I don't have one of those, so our cover would be blown."_

_Sasuke shook his head, "They won't do that, trust me. Most of the members are kids so their Sharingans haven't awakened yet. Some of the older kids, though, like to show off their Sharingans, but no one has to if they don't want to."_

_Kouryu nodded, but still looked apprehensive about the whole thing. Before she could protest further, Sasuke took her hand and dragged her into the building after him. Once they were inside, Sasuke led Kouryu to the back of the room, so that if it was somehow found out that Sasuke had brought a non-Uchiha to this meeting, they could escape easily. Sasuke then started telling Kouryu about the building they were meeting in to kill the time before the meeting began._

_The place the meeting used to be held used to be a long-time-ago Uchiha's house. It had stood unoccupied for a long time. People said it was cursed by one of the Uchiha progenitors precisly because no one had lived there for so long (it was as if something was preventing people from entering). But then one day the Uchiha youth wanted to have clan meetings like the adults. So, they decided to use the haunted house, because the adult Uchihas had told them that there was no room for them elsewhere. The house wasn't haunted exactly, but there were sometimes natural occurrences that went on, like eerie-sounding wind, that had probably made others think the place was haunted._

_Before Sasuke finished telling Kouryu the story of the building, the meeting started. After a few seconds, he was shushed by the other members when this meeting's leader started talking, "Alright, settle down now. As you remember, last month we talked about doing a test of courage this meeting. Well the president and I looked up places and we found that near here are the ruins of Uchiha Madara's dwelling. And since we've all heard the stories about how scary he is we decided to hold it there. So, as soon as you've all paired up we can head over."_

_Once the vice president was done speaking, everyone stood up and started looking for a partner. Of course Sasuke stayed with Kouryu so she wouldn't be found out by the other Uchihas. He wasn't really worried about that happening (he'd made a perfect disguise for her; a black wig!) but she seemed even more nervous than she was before. Sasuke didn't really understand why, but whatever the reason Sasuke would make sure she wouldn't be found out!_

_After everyone paired up, they all headed out to these ruins. While they were walking there, Kouryu whispered to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun, I really shouldn't be here. Something bad is going to happen, I know it. Let's go back; they won't miss us if we do."_

_Sasuke looked at Kouryu, aghast that she'd suggest such a thing, "But I've been looking forward to this all month! C'mon Kouryu, just for a little while…Please?"_

_Kouryu frowned and her eyes seemed to plead with him not to make her do this, but Sasuke didn't back down. Eventually, Kouryu sighed resignedly and looked away from Sasuke. Sasuke was glad he'd won, but a little anxious that Kouryu wouldn't speak to him for the rest of the night._

_When the group arrived at the ruins of Madara's house, they all stopped and the vice president announced that they'd be going in one pair at a time every five minutes. When the vice president asked which pair wanted to go first, surprisingly no one except Sasuke volunteered; what had happened to their previous enthusiasm?_

_Kouryu gave Sasuke a small glare that said 'why did you have to volunteer, Sasuke-kun? This isn't going to lead to anything good!' but she walked up toward the front of the group and everything became eerily still, like the forest was holding its breath waiting for something to happen. As they were walking, Sasuke thought he saw a man with long, spikey black hair wearing red Samurai-looking armor and something that looked like a fan was strapped to his back._

_Sasuke was turned to make a joke about the mysterious man to Kouryu. But the words wouldn't come out when he saw that all color had leeched out of her face and her eyes were wide with fright. Sasuke turned back to where the man was, but he was gone. That couldn't be good…could it?_

_For some reason, as Sasuke and Kouryu neared that front of the group Kouryu began walking in front of him. Once she took a step into the ruins, it was like an invisible barrier cracked. Until then the air had been completely still, but suddenly a strong wind started to blow._

_The wind seemed to pass over Kouryu and whisper; 'fake' as it lifted the wig Sasuke had used to disguise Kouryu off her head. Once the wind had done this, it stopped as abruptly as it had started. Sasuke heard the collective gasp and felt the collective glares on him and Kouryu._

_Sasuke turned to see that almost all of them had activated Sharingans pointed in Kouryu's direction. Kouryu definitely noticed too because she had a deer in the headlights look on her face._

_Sasuke was about to defend why he had brought Kouryu with him, when someone pushed roughly past him and started walking menacingly over to Kouryu. Sasuke, knowing they were going to ambush her if he let it happen, yelled, "Kouryu, run!"_

_Hearing Sasuke's voice, Kouryu regained her senses and turned and ran into the ruins. Was it just Sasuke's imagination, or was the Samurai armor clad ghost man following her?_

**And that ends this chapter. As I said, this chapter was a little different than the other ones because if focused on Sasuke!...Ok, so this chapter might be a little confusing and disjointed from the rest of the story. It should be that way at the moment, I want you to be confused. This chapter is sort of based off of a dream I had that's very similar to the dream Sasuke's having. So…that's about all I have to say at the moment. Um…yeah…please review if you want, I always love to hear what you guys think. Until next time, then.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	7. Sasuke Has a Very Weird Dream Part 2

**Hey, Murayama Tsuru here. I'm back with the sixth chapter! Whoo, I was being sorta lazy writing this so it's a little shorter than usual. But, oh well, I finished Sasuke's dream like I wanted to. So, here you go. I hope you guys enjoy ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

_As Sasuke watched Kouryu run off into the ruins of Madara's house, his feeling of dread grew as he watched the ghost appear again and start to follow her. But before he could go after her, the vice president put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and said, "I don't know your reason for bringing that outside here, and I don't really care. But since you did, you will have to watch as we punish her in front of you."_

_The vice president then told all the other members of the Junior Uchiha Clan to go after Kouryu and bring her back here while he watched Sasuke to make sure he wouldn't run away. Once everyone else left for the ruins, the vice president all but tied Sasuke to a nearby log (why did it have to be a log, didn't the vice president know he hated logs with a fiery passion?)_

_After a while of very boring silence, the vice president sighed and asked, "Why did you bring that outsider here Sasuke?"_

"_I thought you said you didn't care." Sasuke glared from his log_

"_I don't," the vice president sighed again, bored, "I'm just curious as to why you'd want to cause so much trouble for us is all."_

_Sasuke pouted at that, "I didn't mean to cause trouble, she was my friend and I wanted to show some of the cool things our clan does. I don't understand why it's a problem for non-Uchihas to join in our fun."_

_The vice president rolled his eyes and tsk'd at Sasuke's answer. He then opened his mouth to give a reason why non-Uchihas couldn't participate in the Junior Uchiha Clan meetings when he was cut off by a scream. Sasuke was, at first, worried that it might have Kouryu's scream. If it was, he'd do anything to get passed the annoying vice president and go to Kouryu's rescue. But apparently that wasn't necessary because before the scream ended the vice president had already bolted upright and ran into the ruins without another word or look at Sasuke._

_Once Sasuke was sure the vice president wasn't coming back, he stood up and walked into the ruins himself. He could feel a difference as soon as he entered the ruins. When he was outside them, there were normal forest noises but as soon as he entered the ruins, everything fell silent. That did not bode well. Why exactly had they chosen to do the test of courage tonight, Sasuke was beginning to question._

_But, Sasuke didn't actually meet any resistance from the other Uchiha members as he was walking through the ruins. All the Uchiha youth he encountered were unconscious. Sasuke guessed it was either Kouryu defending herself or the weird Samurai ghost dude, Sasuke really hoped it was the ghost._

_As Sasuke made his way to the center of the ruins, he began seeing more and more unconscious Uchiha kids. He was really what had gotten them hadn't come after him. If it did, he wouldn't be able to look like a hero in front of Kouryu._

_Deep in his thoughts of being a hero for the sake of a girl, Sasuke stopped watching about where he was going. Soon, he tripped over something. Swearing, Sasuke looked over at what he tripped over, only to gasp in astonishment; it was the vice president, Sasuke had finally caught up to him._

_Sasuke then looked up and his eyes widened in horror; there was Kouryu facing down the Samurai-armor clad ghost man and a swirly-faced, wooden monster. The wooden monstrosity must have been what knocked the other Uchiha kids unconscious, Sasuke was amazed that Kouryu was standing up to the two so bravely._

_Eventually Sasuke decided that Kouryu needed help fighting the two weirdoes, so he stood up and joined her. Sensing his presence, turned to him glaring, "Sasuke-kun, what are you doing here? Why didn't you stay outside the ruins?"_

_Sasuke scoffed, "What, you don't think I can help you beat these guys? We have a better chance now that it's two on two."_

_Kouryu pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, "But, Sasuke-kun, you don't understand the—" Sasuke didn't catch the rest of Kouryu's sentence as he ran toward the wooden monster. And suddenly, in that way that dreams have, Sasuke had a sword in his hands. For a second, he was confused as to what to do with it, but then image popped into his head._

"_Chidori Nagashi" Sasuke whispered, trying not to clue the enemy in to what he was doing. The sword then crackled with electric energy and he ran up to and stabbed the swirly-faced thing. But it didn't really work, because when Sasuke pulled out his sword and retreated back to Kouryu's side, the wooden monster's wound had already healed._

_Sensing Sasuke's expression, the ghost man and the wooden thing started laughing. The ghost man then said, "That's not going to work here Sasuke, we command the dream world. If only you had your full powers here, then you might be able to stand a chance."_

_Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"_

_The ghost man looked genuinely surprised at Sasuke's question. "You mean she hasn't told you what's happening?"_

_And up went Sasuke's other eyebrow, what in the world did he mean by that? The only girl he could think of was, of course Kouryu. Was she hiding something from him? She couldn't be, there was nothing to hide…was there?_

_Just wanting to make sure, Sasuke turned to Kouryu, but before any word could leave his lips, she said, voice cold, "It'd better you don't know right now, Sasuke-kun. I'd rather not tell you something like this in a dream."_

_Sasuke nodded, he really didn't feel like thinking about this right now. If Kouryu said she'd tell him later, she probably would. She just seemed that type._

_Just then, the ghost man started laughing again, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts, "So you're not going to tell him after all, eh? Well it's like you handing me victory, not using a powerful weapon like that."_

_Kouryu shook her head, "No, he doesn't need to know right now. It's better not to cause unnecessary grief for them."_

_Ghost man chuckled once again, "it matters not, you're only delaying the inevitable."_

_Kouryu did not seem to like that ghost man said that. She then glared at him, her eyes darkening into a blue version of the Sharingan. Sasuke blinked in surprise; so she did have a Sharingan after all. Both ghost man and swirly face seemed as surprised as Sasuke about the blue Sharingan._

_Swirly face spoke for the first time then, "I didn't sign up for this Madara. You never told me she had that."_

'_Madara' huffed, "That's because I didn't know, Obito. If I had, I would've had you eliminate you long before." The two continued arguing and Sasuke was more confused than ever. He didn't know this Obito person, but what was the ghost of Madara doing in his dream; it made zero sense._

"_Enough!" Sasuke and the other two looked up when Kouryu yelled this, "No more stalling, I won't let you take him."_

"_As I said before," Madara scowled, Sasuke guessed he wasn't used to being interrupted, "You're only stalling the inevitable. Whether you banish us from his dream or not, we will make sure things go according to our plan in the end."_

_Kouryu glared at ghost man again, "All that matters is that your plan doesn't work this time. Next time, I'll be better prepared." Then her lips moved in a silent Jutsu and both the ghost man and swirly face disappeared. Sasuke looked at Kouryu in awe; she'd just made two powerful enemies disappear. Even though, they said they'd be back, Kouryu had still done something amazing. But, she just looked tired, like she wasn't expecting something like this to happen._

_Sasuke was going to ask her what had just happened, but he didn't get the chance. As soon as he opened his mouth, the vice president suddenly awoke from his unconsciousness and clapped Sasuke on the shoulder, "I don't know how you did it Sasuke, but you beat that wooden beast!"_

"_N-no," Sasuke started, pointing in Kouryu's direction, "I didn't do anything, she made both disappear."_

_The vice president raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about Sasuke? There's no one over there."_

_Sasuke was about to protest again, when he decided to actually look and see if Kouryu was still there. She wasn't, instead there was a small patch of ice where she had been before._

Sasuke woke up that morning feeling disappointed and confused. That dream had been nothing but trouble. It made him ask questions he didn't have the answers to, and he really didn't like that. But then Itachi came in and told him to come down for dinner. Sasuke then decided that if he saw Kouryu at training today he'd ask her about his dream then. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling she would be able to tell him something even though it was his weird dream.

**And that is the end of the 6****th**** chapter. I know it's a little shorter than last chapter, but this is all I had the will to do this week. Naruto will return as the focus of next chapter, and we will learn a little more about what's going with Kouryu and Sasuke. So, if you'd like, please review, I love to know what you guys think. Until next week then.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	8. A New Day Brings New Challengs for Team7

**Hey, Murayama Tsuru here. This week's chapter was harder to write than I wanted it to. I'm deep into an amazing book at the moment so Naruto is not at the forefront of my mind at the moment. But anyway, here's the next chapter.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

Kouryu woke with a start her breath coming out in short pants. Entering others dreams had never been her strength; but it had been necessary to see if Sasuke was planning on leaving the village anytime soon. There hadn't been any indication that he would, but she just had to make sure.

And what had she gotten for her troubles? A battle with the two people she was trying to keep out of this village, and Sasuke learning more than he probably should. Kouryu hoped he wouldn't remember his dream, but that probably wouldn't be the case. So, that would mean a day of avoiding the Sharingan user, in hopes to avoid more questioning.

It was ok if Naruto knew; he seemed to agree with her plan. But, Kouryu was afraid, that if Sasuke was privy to the memories she had taken from him he would go out of his way to stand in the way of her plans. He seemed like the type who wouldn't take betrayal well.

Kouryu's thoughts were interrupted when the dragon's voice said, "Kouryu, if you don't leave soon you're going to be late."

The blue haired girl smiled and chuckled softly, the dragon seemed her only true friend during this lonely mission of hers.

Standing from her futon, Kouryu said, her tone light and joking, "But as I recall, Kakashi-sensei is as late as everyone else is early. If I dally a little longer, it wouldn't be too bad would it?"

Kouryu's dragon chuckled as well, "Indeed, I doubt it would be much of a tragedy, but being late on what probably be the day of your first mission in Konoha is not recommended, I hear."

Both dragon and girl laughed aloud then, a private joke that only the two of them seemed to share. Then Kouryu went about getting ready for her second day as a "foreign-exchange Ninja" in Konoha.

* * *

Naruto woke up to the sun beaming in on his face from the window. After blinking the brightness out of his eyes, he sat up and stretched languidly like a cat (or a fox). Naruto then stood up and made his way to the kitchen.

There, he was happily surprised to find that Kouryu had left the illusions of his parents intact after she had restored the truth. Maybe it hadn't seemed that important to her, but it gave Naruto a chance at a normal family life for just a little longer. And for that, he was extremely grateful.

After another morning of his mom trying and failing to make breakfast, Naruto headed out for his second day of training with Kouryu. He hoped that even though Kouryu said they couldn't leave the village, there would be something other to do than just training. Naruto needed to do something active soon or he might just go crazy.

When Naruto arrived at Team Seven's usual training ground, something seemed amiss. Everyone was there except Kakashi, which wasn't unusual. But, there was a tension thick in the air that was very odd to Naruto. Kouryu seemed to be the root of this tension, Naruto thought. She was standing a little ways away from Sasuke and Sakura.

Naruto couldn't quite figure it out, but Sasuke seemed to want to ask Kouryu something and she seemed to be avoiding him like the plague. And Sakura, not oblivious to Sasuke's mood was simultaneously giving Sasuke longing looks and glaring in Kouryu's direction.

Naruto looked between his comrades and Kouryu and decided to go ask Kouryu what was going on. Neither Sasuke nor Sakura seemed to be in a mood to answer any questions right at the moment. So, Naruto walked over to Kouryu and grinned, "Good mornin', Kouryu."

She smiled back at him tiredly, on closer inspection; it looked to Naruto as if she hadn't gotten much sleep, "Good morning, Naruto-kun. I hope a morning with your parents was well."

So she did know how much his parents meant to him after all, "Yeah, it was great to see them this morning as well. How was your morning?"

"I didn't get as much sleep as I wanted to, but other than that my morning wasn't bad." She looked like she wanted to say something else, but decided against it when Kakashi-sensei came and started telling them his latest story of why he wasn't on time this morning.

Naruto was, at first, a little miffed that his teacher's arrival dissuaded Kouryu from saying what she wanted to say to him. But that was soon forgotten when Kakashi told them that they had a mission to do today.

But as it turned out, the mission was capturing some lady's run away cat. That dampened Naruto's spirits just a little. At least this time he was paired up with Kouryu to search for the cat. Kakashi-Sensei said that it would probably be easier to locate it in groups.

And of course, there was no sign of the dammed cat. And soon enough, Naruto's stomach rumbled letting him know it was now lunch time. He then heard Kouryu giggle; it seemed his stomach had alerted Kouryu that it was lunch time as well.

As they sat down for lunch, Naruto was a little sad that he didn't bring any instant ramen with him. As if reading his mind, Kouryu produced two cups of instant Ramen out of nowhere and grinned at him, "Somehow I had a feeling you'd want some of this for lunch. How about you gather wood for a fire while I get the water?"

Naruto nodded and the two went off in different directions. Awhile later, Naruto came back to where they were earlier with some firewood in hand. He didn't see Kouryu, but he figured she'd just taken a little longer searching for water than he did for wood.

Once Naruto started the fire he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up to see Kouryu with a bucket of water in one hand, a very wet cat in the other, and many scratches. Naruto raised an eyebrow "So I see you found the missing cat. Should we have lunch first or do you wanna bring the cat back to Kakashi-Sensei?"

"Lunch, definitely. After chasing the cat into the nearby river, both it and I need a break." Naruto laughed and began heating the water Kouryu brought.

While they were eating lunch, Naruto remembered that he had wanted to ask her about why she was avoiding Sasuke this morning. After he slurped up the last of his Ramen noisily, he said, "Hey, Kouryu what was with you and Sasuke earlier today? It was like you were trying to avoid him or something."

Kouryu held up a hand signaling that she wanted to finish her own cup of Ramen. And so Naruto waited slightly impatiently for her to do so. Once she was finished and said, her forehead slightly furrowed, "Sasuke is closer to finding out about his memories than I would like him to be."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

"Last night, after I was done talking to you, I went into Sasuke's dreams to monitor how much he had discovered. There I had an unexpected encounter with both Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito. Sasuke overheard our conversation and I thought he would ask me questions about what happened."

"What?" That came as a shock to Naruto, "How did they enter Sasuke's dream? Actually, how did you enter Sasuke's dream?"

"It's a Jutsu that I know. I don't really know how the other two got in, though. It poses a rather large problem. But, I think I have a plan to stop them temporarily."

"It's always temporary with them isn't it?" Naruto sighed

"Yes," Kouryu sighed in agreement, "I only can stop them temporarily, unfortunately. Until I can think of a permanent solution at least."

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, "So until then, is there anything I can do to help?"

Kouryu smiled, "I was hoping you would ask. My current plan involves you."

**And that ends this chapter with my specialty; a cliffhanger! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well ^_^ and next time we'll learn the plan…wait did I just say we? I-I meant you guys…I know it already…maybe. A-anyway, please review if you'd like, I love to know what you guys think. Well, until next week then.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	9. Sasuke Gets on an Ice Dragon's bad Side

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I'm back with the eighth chapter of this story. I hope you guys like it! In other news I got to dress up as Itachi for Halloween this year. I wasn't planning on dressing up, but then my Kaa-chan sent me the cape and headband! It was fun, even though I didn't go trick or treating. Well then, enough about me, let's get started with this week's chapter!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei Dattebayo!**_

Naruto and Kouryu walked back to the rendezvous point with Kakashi-sensei and the other two. Kouryu was holding the cat and Naruto was walking a little behind her, looking pensive. When he heard Kouryu's plan to stop Madara and Obito's forward progress into Konoha, he'd been a little skeptical. She didn't have many details, but it involved fighting the two enemy Uchihas in the dream world. Kouryu had then told him that there was no need to answer right away because there were some things she needed to prepare before they got started.

But regardless of whether or not Naruto accepted Kouryu's plan, she'd told him that they would practice in the dream world tonight. Naruto was looking forward to it, he always jumped at a new place to train and fight strong opponents.

Naruto looked up when he heard Kakashi-sensei say lazily, "Ah, I see you found the lost cat. Good job you two."

Naruto nodded and Kouryu smiled and then Sakura said, "What took you guys so long though? We were supposed to meet back here almost an hour ago."

There was a pause and Naruto had no idea what to say so that Sasuke wouldn't know what they were talking about. Naruto opened his mouth, prepared to ad lib if necessary when Kouryu answered, "Sorry, Sakura-chan, it was my fault. We found the cat as were preparing for lunch. I thought it would be a good idea to eat our meal, lest it go bad. Was that wrong?"

Sakura colored, it seemed she didn't want to make it like she was making fun of the "transfer Ninja's" ignorance to Konoha customs, so she said nothing. Sasuke tried to suppress a snort, but didn't quite manage, "No," he said after he was able to contain the uncharacteristic case of the giggles he suddenly got, "You weren't wrong to eat before coming to the rendezvous point, I'm sure that Dobe, Naruto would have done the same thing. But next time, you might want to let us know, so we expect that you'll be late."

Naruto was shocked; he'd never heard Sasuke say so much at one time. Naruto was wondering what had gotten into Sasuke when he heard Kouryu say, "I'll be sure to remember that for next time. Or perhaps, you'd like to be invited to lunch next time as well? I make a mean cup of instant ramen."

Sasuke's eyes widened and it could have been Naruto's imagination, but was that a light blush staining Sasuke's cheeks? To Naruto, Sasuke seemed to be the type to ignore others' affections toward him and not care about others enough to develop those feelings himself. He seemed completely unaware of Sakura's feelings for him after all.

Sasuke seemed to flounder for something to say, but Sakura said something instead, "What are you implying Kouryu-san?"

The blue haired Ninja blinked in surprise, "Huh? What are you talking about Sakura-chan? I would invite you and Kakashi-Sensei to lunch as well. It was more of a blanket invitation than an invitation for Sasuke-kun only."

Sakura raised an eyebrow and huffed, Naruto really hoped she wouldn't start something with Kouryu over Sasuke. Naruto realized that it was probably the long time release of jealousy and possessiveness of not having seen Sasuke in a pretty long time. But still, picking a fight with Kouryu didn't really seem like a good idea to Naruto.

But luckily for everyone, Sakura backed off with a huff. Then Team 7 plus Kouryu went and returned the cat to the owner; the cat did not seem happy. Then the group split up for the day, as there were no other missions at the moment.

Naruto noticed that Kouryu, Sasuke, and Sakura all ended up going in the same direction. Sasuke walking a ways away from Kouryu and Sakura walking even further behind. Naruto had a feeling that there was a stalking train going on. And, against his better judgment, Naruto decided to go after them as well.

Eventually, Naruto caught up to Sakura who was hiding around the corner of a building. She jumped guiltily when she sensed Naruto's presence behind her. But when she saw it was just Naruto, she sighed in what seemed to Naruto like relief and then put a finger to her lips and turned back around.

Naruto rolled his eyes in mock annoyance, but then tuned his ears into Sasuke and Kouryu's conversation.

"Kouryu…Have I met you somewhere before?"

There was a short pause, then came a quiet "No, yesterday was the first time we've met."

There was another pause, then Sasuke's voice said, "But then, what was with what that guy said in my dream last night?"

"What dream, Sasuke-kun? I don't remember any dream." Kouryu responded in an attempt to change the subject.

"Don't play dumb with me; you know exactly what dream I'm talking about. You were there when the ghost of that Madara and the swirly monster attacked."

"I'm flattered that you'd dream about me Sasuke-kun. But really, I have no idea what you're talking about."

There was a thump and then Sasuke's voice with cold rage, "Don't try that with me. There's something you know about that dream that I don't. Tell me what it is and I won't be forced to do anything drastic."

There was a pause then a cold wind started up and Naruto got a very bad feeling. Then he and Sakura heard a much louder thump and Kouryu started speaking, her voice just as cold as Sasuke's voice was and Naruto heard the deepness in her voice that meant the dragon had appeared, "Don't you threaten me Uchiha boy. If you push me, I'll push right back. Kouryu was afraid this might happen. So, I'm going to tell you now, don't ask any question if you don't want to get hurt. If she wants to tell you anything then she will of her own accord."

Naruto could feel Sasuke's surprise at Kouryu's sudden change in attitude, "W-who the hell are you? What happened to Kouryu? You seem like a totally different person."

There was a low rumbling chuckle and then, "I am, basically, Kouryu. We are one and the same, essentially. But I, unlike her, don't take too kindly to threats. So, if you'll kindly leave us alone, then no harm will come to you."

"Tch, you don't scare me." Sasuke said obstinately

"Then let me tell you something that will. If you're not careful, your brother will be in danger. Out of all of them, he's the most unstable. I bet you wouldn't…" the dragon trailed off and the cold wind died.

There was a rustling sound and Kouryu's voice was back to normal, "I'm sorry Sasuke, I didn't mean to say that. Please don't ask any more questions, I can't answer them at the moment. When all this is over, I'll tell you what you want to know."

Sakura and Naruto then heard footsteps and a leap. Naruto deciding that he'd had enough of just eavesdropping, turned the corner despite Sakura's protests. Naruto saw Kouryu leaping over the rooftops a ways away and Sasuke looking ashen. Not noticing Naruto, Sasuke walked passed him and where Sakura were, muttering, "What was she talking about? I have to go check on my brother."

* * *

That night Naruto went to sleep, feeling slightly worried about Kouryu, she'd run away pretty fast after her conversation with Sasuke so Naruto hadn't had time to ask her side of what happened. Soon enough, Naruto drifted off to sleep, despite all the thoughts swirling in his head.

Soon, Naruto's eyes blinked open and he found himself in a strange world. It was a misty place, and Naruto thought he could see a landscape, but it kept shifting in appearance, making Naruto dizzy.

"Welcome to the dream world." Naruto looked at the sound of Kouryu's voice. He couldn't really see her, though; she seemed to be behind the veil of mist that was covering everything. Naruto called out, "Kouryu, why's there mist everywhere?"

Naruto thought she saw Kouryu's head tilt in confusion, "Mist? I don't see any mist…Maybe it because it's your first time in the dream world that you can't see things clearly?"

"That's probably it." Naruto nodded

"Alright then, Naruto. It's time to begin your training. Are you ready?"

Naruto nodded and Kouryu then weaved some hand-signs and shouted, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" There was a cloud of white smoke and before Naruto appeared a blue…blob…What the hell?

**And that ends this chapter. I have no idea where this story is going at the moment. There was no Naruto chapter to guide me this week, so that's why it ended the way it did! I hope you all enjoyed and you'll stick around for next week to find out what the blue blob is. I'm pretty sure you won't be able to guess! It's so totally random that you won't get it…probably…Well anyway, leave a review if you'd like, I love to hear what you guys think. So, until next week then!**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	10. The Almost Crossover Dream Training

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I have brought to you the ninth chapter, hooray! Now you guys will be able to learn what the blue blob is! I bet none of you guessed what it is! It's…Wait a second, you guys almost tricked me into revealing something before the story started. Well too bad, you have to wait for a few more words! So, without further ado, here's this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei. Nor do I own Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo; it's the property of Sawai Yoshio-Sensei! Crap, I've just given you all a big hint!**_

As the blue blob unfolded into a large rectangle-like thing with arms and legs, Naruto's sweat-dropped. He hadn't really known what to expect when he first saw it, but it was definitely not this. The blob was now a living blue stick of Tokoroten. Naruto turned to Kouryu and asked, "Um…Why are you having me fight Jelly Jigg—?"

"Shhh," Kouryu interrupted frantically, "You can't say his name, it'd be in violation of the copyright."

"What are you talking about? This isn't Gintama. It won't matter if we do it a little, since we don't' usually bring in characters from other Shonen Jump series."

"No," Kouryu shook her head, "That's exactly why we can't do it. We shouldn't stoop to the level of that Samurai comedy."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but didn't really feel like arguing anymore, "Fine, whatever. Can I at least call him by his Japanese name?"

Kouryu thought about it for a second then nodded, "Yes that should be ok. I don't think there are many people who have watched that show in Japanese anyway."

That made no sense to Naruto, but instead of commenting, he asked his original question, "Why are you making me fight Tokoroten'nosuke, Kouryu?"

"Because," Kouryu said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "He's a lot easier to deal with than Don Patch. And, I thought it'd be good to start your training in the Dream World with someone who isn't too tough."

Naruto nodded, despite her choice of character, Kouryu's reasoning for having him train with Jelly Jiggler, made a certain amount of sense. "Hey," a voice interrupted Naruto's thoughts, "Are we going to get this fight started already? I'm being paid big time to make an appearance in this story; all I can eat jelly!"

"Um…" Naruto started hesitantly, "aren't you made out of jelly? Why would the author pay you in what you're made out of?"

When Jelly Jiggler heard this, it looked like he'd been struck by lightning, "You're right! I've been tricked! Can I have a minute to negotiate my contract with the author?"

"No," Naruto deadpanned, cracking his knuckles, "As you said it's time to get this fight started." And Naruto charged at the Jelly-man as he began screaming bloody murder.

Fighting with Jelly Jiggler proved a lot harder than Naruto had originally thought. Since the blue man was made out of a jelly-like substance, he was extremely resilient. So, every time Naruto thought he'd beat Jelly Jiggler, he'd just get right back up like nothing happened.

Naruto was just beginning to tire when Jelly Jiggler turned to Kouryu and asked, "Hey, Kouryu-san, can I stop now? Since I'm not actually being paid money, I just don't have the will to keep this going."

"Kouryu raised an eyebrow, "But what about Naruto-kun? Does he want to stop? This training is for him, y'know."

The jelly-man clicked his tongue, "Yes, I can see that. I was trying not to step on his pride by gracefully ducking out of this fight while he was still standing."

Kouryu chuckled and then looked over at Naruto who was panting and drenched in sweat, "Well, what do you say, Naruto-kun? Do you want to stop?"

Naruto shook his head vehemently, "No, I can still fight. So bring it Jelly-man, you're gonna be my midnight snack!"

Tokoten'nosuke tsk'd, "Fine, I try to be nice and this is the thanks I get. But I warn you I'm not going to go easy on you from here on out."

The blue man then started concentrating and a purple aura started to surround him. Naruto didn't like the look of that so he ran over and punched Jelly Jiggler, knocking him flat.

"Hey!" he said indignantly as he say up, "What'd you do that for? You didn't even let me start my attack!"

"Huh? But you looked like you were about to do some powerful move, and I thought I'd stop you before you could. What's wrong with that?"

Jelly Jiggler gave Naruto a look, "Everything is wrong with that. You're supposed to stand there while I power up for my attack. Don't you read Shonen Manga?"

"Eh?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, confused, "Is that how it's supposed to be? I didn't know, I'm sorry Jelly Jigg…I mean Tokoroten'nosuke."

The jelly man then came over and patted Naruto on the shoulder soothingly, "It's ok. I forgive you, I've been reading your chapters every week and it's apparent to me that you have zero time to be reading Shonen Jump."

"Ah…Yeah, how true, we are in the middle of an intense fight in the real story."

"That's right," Jelly Jiggler nodded, "So, it's not your fault that you don't know the proper rules of a Shonen Jump fight…Not, you should know them if you're in an intense fight now!" Jelly yelled and made to punch Naruto from close range.

But, Naruto just blocked the punch, and said icily, "So that was your game, huh? Well that doesn't seem very Jump-esque either if you ask me. Now I think I'm going to have to try even harder to beat you."

At that, Jelly Jiggler's eyes became unrealistically wide. He then started to beg for mercy, and if he got it, he'd share his jelly with Naruto after their fight. But his kowtowing was cut short when both he and Naruto heard something like a wall crash down around them.

Naruto looked around to see that the fog that had been there when Naruto arrived in the dream world had gotten a lot thicker. Now, Naruto couldn't even see Kouryu's outline like he could before. Feeling a little worried, Naruto yelled, "Kouryu, is this your doing? If you're trying to play a joke on us it's not funny."

But there was no answer, which did not strike Naruto as a good thing. Jelly Jiggler didn't seem to like this turn of events either, as he was now shaking uncontrollably. After a few seconds, Naruto, thoroughly annoyed now half yelled, half asked "Are you just going to stand there and shake?"

Jelly Jiggler immediately stopped shaking. And after a considerable effort, he said to Naruto in an almost calm voice, "What are you talking about? Isn't shaking how you get rid of fog?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "That's the first time I've heard that."

"Me too. I don't think shaking is going to help you out of this situation." A voice that was neither Naruto nor Jelly Jiggler said. Naruto and Jelly both turned in the direction of the voice, to try and discern who the newcomer was. And Naruto did not like what he found.

Behind Naruto was a white Zetsu. Naruto had no idea how he got there, but he wasn't about to ask; talking to enemies really didn't seem like a good idea. But then, to Naruto's immense annoyance, Jelly Jiggler spoke up, "Who are you. And why are you on our training ground?"

The white Zetsu chuckled, "Why should I tell you that? I'm you enemy, so clearly I'm here to stop you from training."

Jelly gasped, "But, but that's just so mean. Who would do such a ghastly thing?"

Naruto sighed, he hadn't known Jelly long, but his tendency to overreact at everything was starting to get annoying. The Zestu looked confused; like he thought just Naruto was going to be there. An awkward silence settled on the three of them then.

Eventually Naruto decided to break the silence by asking, "So, white Zetsu, did Uchiha Madara send you here?"

The white plant-thing looked shocked, "How did you know? I didn't tell anyone."

"Jelly Jiggler's stupidity must be affecting you," and ignoring said idiot's protests, Naruto continued, "I think it's pretty obvious. I mean, Madara or Tobi or Obito or whatever you want to call him seems to be the only one who uses you guys."

The white Zetsu paused, "that makes sense. Well know that you know it's time to say goodbye!" and he started waving hand-signs.

Naruto and Jelly Jiggler looked at each other and Jelly said enthusiastically, "C'mon Naruto, let's do this! I know we can beat him.

Naruto groaned inwardly and thought, 'Kouryu, where are you? Why did you leave me with this idiot?'

**And that ends this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed the random appearance of Jelly Jiggler! Did anyone guess who it was before I basically revealed it in the disclaimer? Huh, huh, did you? I bet you didn't! But if you did, congratulations, you get an imaginary cookie. Here you go, it had Tokoroten in it! ...Wait why are you walking away? It was only a joke! I wanted try a comedy chapter this week because there wasn't nearly enough comedy in this story by my standarts! By the way, for those who want to know, Tokoroten is jelly noodles made out of agar. So, anyway if you'd like please review, I always love to know what you guys think. Until next week then!**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	11. Two Battles in the Dream World Begin

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. And I come bearing the next chapter. Well…that's all I have to say at the moment, so I hope you enjoy ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei. I also don't own Jelly Jiggler; he's the property of Sawai Yoshio.**_

Kouryu watched at Naruto trained with Jell…er, I mean Tokoroten'nosuke. Naruto seemed to be getting the hang of fighting in the dream world, and Kouryu was thinking of who she should summon the next night they did this. But then the dragon interrupted her thoughts with, "Kouryu, I sense danger approaching."

And that's when Kouryu saw the shield of fog. She hadn't noticed it before because she could see Naruto clearly, but now she couldn't see anything. That clearly meant trouble. But before she could try anything, a voice froze her where she stood, "Ah, so you're the one who brought the nine-tails here. Thank you for playing into our hands."

* * *

Naruto was beginning to feel disappointed. He had expected a fight with the white Zetsu, but instead he was watching what looked to be a game of tag. For some reason Jelly Jiggler was a source of great amusement for the plant-like thing; it wanted to know what the Jelly man was, so it decided to investigate.

But of course, Jelly Jiggler did not want to be investigated, so he started running away. And so it went on, the two ignoring Naruto completely. Naruto wasn't quite sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He really wished Kouryu would come back.

And then, Jelly Jiggler started running toward Naruto, tears streaming comically down his face, "Naruto-kun, save me! This plant says he's going to eat me! Now I don't usually mind when people want to try my magnificent flavor, but this guy is scary! So save me!"

Naruto sighed, why couldn't the Tokoroten man have done this earlier? If he had, Naruto probably could have gotten them out of this situation a lot sooner, then they could see what happened to Kouryu. Naruto nodded and Jelly Jiggler immediately ran behind Naruto, using his as a shield.

So then, as he white Zetsu was heading toward Naruto to get to Jelly Jiggler, Naruto put his hands in that oh-so-familiar cross shape and shouted, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and multiple Narutos appeared.

The White Zetsu sighed long-sufferingly, "Damn, this means I actually have to do my job. Why couldn't you have let me play with the jelly creature a little more?"

"No, I got bored watching you two. I wasn't included in your game of chase, so I'm not letting you continue."

"Tch, have it your way. I'm just stalling for time anyway."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto growled, he didn't have a good feeling about what the White Zetsu said

But it just shrugged in answer, "I'll only tell you if you beat me." And it started running at Naruto again, leaving no time for more words.

* * *

Kouryu turned around slowly, all but ignoring the warnings the dragon was giving her. When she saw who it was, she sighed, "Great, more trouble, just what I wanted. What do you want, Obito?"

Behind Kouryu stood a man with the equivalent of Naruto's hair, except black, half of his face contorted by wrinkles or scars (it was too hard to tell). The man snickered seeing Kouryu, "Me? I don't want much of anything except to destroy this unbearable world. It's Madara who's mad at you. So I've been sent to either kill or capture you so we can get on with the Tsuki no Me plan."

"Well I'm not going to let that happen."

"Of course you're not," Obito sighed, "that is why I'm here, after all. Madara wanted to be here himself, but unfortunately there are other things he has to do at the moment."

Kouryu gasped, a sudden realization coming to her, "You can't mean…Sasuke?"

Obito shrugged, "Who knows? I'm not always privy to that old man's plans. But what does that matter? As long as I can avenge Rin, I don't really care how Madara does things."

Kouryu glared at the rogue Uchiha, this really wasn't going well. She needed to get to Naruto fast, who knew what was happening to him on the other side of that wall. But first, she'd have to make the man in front of her disappear.

But before she could do anything, the dragon whispered, "Kouryu, switch with me."

"Why? I should be the one to deal with this."

"But, he's fought you before, not me. To keep him guessing, you should let me do this."

Kouryu thought about it for the few seconds she had before Obito decided to start the fight before she was ready. Then she nodded, and a cold wind started.

* * *

Naruto was exhausted, why wouldn't this damn plant just go away? Naruto had already been tired out from his training with Jelly Jiggler, he wasn't sure he had it in him to fight the white Zetsu for too much longer.

And then a familiar voice said in Naruto's head, "Naruto, you look tired Let me take over."

His eyes widened, "Kurama? Where have you been?"

The fox demon snorted, "That's what I should be asking you. I've been trying to get into contact with you for days. That girl broke our connection somehow. But now that you're here, it seems I can communicate with you again."

"Well, that's probably a good thing. I think she was trying to…"

"You can explain later. Right now, we have a fight to win." Kurama said, slightly impatient with his host. Naruto nodded and then felt the familiar surge of red Chakra flow into him.

Kurama then looked around and spotted Jelly Jiggler. He blinked through Naruto's eyes then walked over to the Jelly man, picked him up, and threw him at the White Zetsu.

As Jelly Jiggler flew, he looked back at Naruto once, with tears in his eyes and a betrayed look on his face. With a sniff, he said, hurt, "How could you Naruto-kun? After we trained together…?" and he smacked into the plant man.

Naruto sighed; he figured that his would have no effect. But somehow, the White Zetsu actually looked like he had been damaged by the Jelly man. Naruto raised an eyebrow and Kurama started explaining, "I can transfer some of my Chakra into another being temporarily. It looked like the Jelly thing was being useless so I decided to make him useful and throw him at the enemy. You may thank me now."

"Thanks…I guess…" Naruto mumbled as he walked over to Jelly Jiggler and the White Zetsu. When he got there, he extended a hand to Jelly, who took it gratefully, yet slightly hesitantly at the same time.

Naruto grinned as he pulled the Tokoroten man up, "Don't worry, I'm not going to throw you again. That's Kurama's style, not mine."

Somehow, Jelly Jiggler managed to relax visibly, even though he has no shoulders and is made out of jelly, when Naruto said that. Then the two looked down at Zetsu. For some reason Naruto could not fathom, Zetsu was now on the ground, a small trickle of blood seeping from the side of his mouth.

The plant man coughed, "I can't believe you had such a strong attack like that. But you're too late. I'm sure Obito has already subdued your friend."

"Naruto glared at the White Zetsu, "What the hell are you talking about?"

The White Zetsu laughed weakly then said, "I thought I told you, I only came here to stall you. By know Obito had already gotten to your friend." And then it disappeared, leaving not a trace of itself behind.

After about a minute, Jelly Jiggler asked, "What do you think that meant? Is Kouryu alright?"

Naruto shook his head, "I have no idea. But now that that's over, let's try getting out of this fog."

So the two went over to the wall and studied it. After a while, Naruto, feeling slightly sadistic, said, "Punch it, Jelly."

"What?" Jelly replied, sounding slightly scandalized, "Why should I do it? You're probably much stronger than me. Why don't you do it?"

"Because," Naruto fake sighed, "I'm still feeling drained from the battle with the White Zetsu. You just have to keep at it until I've regained enough Chakra."

Jelly didn't seem to be able to argue with Naruto. So he walked up to the wall and punched it…the wall stayed intact but the vibrations made Jelly wobble back a few steps.

Jelly Jiggler then walked back up to the wall, about to punch it again when Naruto snorted, "You actually did it…I'm sorry, I didn't think you were that gullible. Well, you don't have to punch it again. I have an idea."

Before Jelly Jiggler could give an indignant retort, Naruto created a clone and then created a Rasengan. Which he proceeded to slam against the wall. The effect was immediate, as the fog barrier cracked and shattered like glass.

And Naruto did not like what he saw as the barrier came down. There was Obito standing over a collapsed Kouryu, his Sharingan and Rinnegan glowing evilly.

**And that is the end of this chapter (cue evil laughter). I've left ya'll hanging again! So I hope you can bare to wait until next week for the next chapter. Until then, please review if you'd like, I always love to know what you guys think. So, see you all next week, then.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	12. Things Don't Go the Way They Should

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here's the 11****th**** chapter of this story. Um…I sadly don't have anything to say at the moment…I hope you guys had a good thanksgiving if you celebrate that holiday. I sure did ^_^ well anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

Naruto's eyes widened, what he saw could _not_ be good. He should have calmly thought about what f=to do next. But at the moment, calm was not a word in Naruto's dictionary. After taking one last look at Kouryu lying on the ground, he glared at Obito and growled, "What the hell did you do to her?"

Kakashi's former comrade shrugged, "I just beat her at her own game. For some reason, she decided not to use that blue Sharingan of hers, so it was exceptionally easy to trap her in an illusion."

At that, Naruto saw red. He was angry at both Obito for hurting his comrade and Kouryu for being dumb enough not to use something that would work against their foe. He then lost what little composure he had left from dealing with Jelly Jiggler, the White Zetsu, and now this and charged at Obito, his clone helping him create a Rasengan on the way.

Just as he was about to slam the swirling blue orb into Obito's chest, he saw Kouryu's eyes, dark blue with her Aojaringan, glare up at Obito. Her eyes widened as she saw Naruto, her lips forming a silent 'stop', but it was too late. The Rasengan connected with Obito and was absorbed into him, taking Naruto with it.

Kouryu jumped up as fast as she could then, glaring once again at Obito, "Was this part of your plan?" the man who had a Sharingan and a Rinnegan laughed satisfactorily, "Yes, and you all fell for it hook line and sinker. See you when our plans come to fruition." And he started to fade away, still laughing.

Kouryu realized that her eyes were working against her this time, since they had the power to banish the Sharingan users from the dream world, Obito had decided to use that power against her, taking Naruto with him. Kouryu understood this and deactivated the Aojaringan. But it all for naught, by the time her eyes were back to normal, Obito and Naruto were gone.

Jelly Jiggler could feel an aura of despair around Kouryu then. He walked up to her cautiously and asked, "Kouryu-san is everything alright?"

She turned around slowly, and Jelly saw that her eyes were glistening with unshed tears, "No, everything is not alright. I've failed. I couldn't protect him and now the plans that I worked so hard to stop are going to go forward now."

Jelly Jiggler shook his head and something about him seemed to change. But Kouryu, barely registering this change, said, her voice numb, "I'm sorry Jelly Jiggler," she didn't even try to pretend she wasn't violating some copyright somewhere, "I have to go. I'll make sure the author pays you later." And then she made the sign that released him from the summoning and disappeared, leaving Jelly Jiggler shaking his head.

* * *

Kouryu woke up she looked tired. She may have been asleep all night, but she had used up a lot of energy fighting Obito. She sighed, then, knowing she would have to go check on Naruto. She didn't particularly want to admit her mistake to Naruto's parents. They may be only illusions, but she had given them enough autonomy so that if something went wrong on her end, the illusion wouldn't shatter. That meant the Naruto's parents would be very angry with her when she told them what happened last night.

She had not been expecting Obito to show up during the training last night. So she had not been prepared. And now she had to face the consequences of her unpreparedness. She was not looking forward to it. With another sigh, she got out of bed and began to get ready for what she would have to do next.

She arrived at Naruto's house and knocked once and then waited anxiously for someone to answer the door. After a while, she was beginning to think no one was home, when there were footsteps. Kouryu wasn't sure that was any better than if no one was home; she didn't really want to tell Minato and Kushina the bad news.

The door finally opened and Kouryu bowed immediately, "Kushina, Minato, I have some bad news…Last night, I was training Naruto in the dream world and something terrible happened. If something bad has happened to Naruto, I apologize deeply. But if that is not enough, please punish me however you see fit."

After a few tense moments, Kouryu was imagining what the two must be feeling. She could almost feel the rage and sadness coming off the two of them. But then a chuckle broke the tension that was hanging over her. She looked up to see none other than Naruto grinning at her.

Kouryu blinked and rubbed her eyes, thinking that she was seeing an illusion. But when she looked again, he was still there, he grin wider now. Naruto, seeing Kouryu's confusion started laughing. Once he had calmed down, he said, "I tried to tell ya last night, Kouryu. But you didn't seem to want to listen."

Kouryu cocked her head in confusion, "Huh? What were you trying to tell me? The only other guy there after I banished Obito was Jelly Jiggler…wait…that was you? What happened?" Naruto nodded and began recounting what happened in the dream world last night.

_Jelly Jiggler then walked back up to the wall, about to punch it again when Naruto snorted, "You actually did it…I'm sorry, I didn't think you were that gullible. Well, you don't have to punch it again. I have an idea."_

_Before Jelly Jiggler could give an indignant retort, Naruto created a clone and then created a Rasengan. Which he proceeded to slam against the wall. The effect was immediate, as the fog barrier cracked and shattered like glass._

_As Naruto was about to run through the wall, Jelly Jiggler stopped him, whispering, "Wait, it's probably a trap."_

_Naruto turned around and blinked at the Tokoroten man and said incredulously, "Did you just say something smart? I can't believe it!"_

_Jelly Jiggler then puffed out his chest and said, "Of course I'm smart! I was a general of the Hair Hunt Troop's A Block after all!"_

_Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Ok then Mr. General, do you have a plan?"_

_Jelly's chest then deflated and he floundered for an answer. Naruto chuckled after a while and said, "Well, don't worry, I do. I'm going to change you into me and me into you. So if it is a trap like you say, things won't end up too disastrously."_

_Jelly Jiggler nodded and let Naruto perform the Jutsu. Once it was complete, Naruto and Jelly Jiggler went through the broken barrier._

By the time Naruto finished his retelling, Kouryu was clutching her sides, laughing. Naruto grinned watching Kouryu laugh like she was. It was a nice change from her bowed head of a few minutes ago. Once Kouryu finally managed to contain her laughter she said, slightly breathless, "I'm so glad they didn't get you, Naruto-kun. I really wish I could see the look on their faces when they find out that the person they really captured was Jelly Jiggler."

Naruto nodded, grinning as he was imagining their faces. Kouryu's face then turned serious after a moment and she said, "Naruto-kun, when I encountered Obito, Madara wasn't there. When I asked, he told me that his boss had other things to do. I have a bad feeling that Sasuke might have been the other thing that Madara had to do."

Naruto's eyes grew serious as well, "We should probably go check it out then, shouldn't we."

"Yeah, I regret that I couldn't keep an eye on him last night, but training you seemed more important at the moment." Naruto nodded and the two then headed off in the direction of the Uchiha compound.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, Obito was waiting for Madara to wake up. He was growing bored; it seemed the Uchiha founder was taking longer with his part of the plan than Obito had to pull off his part. It had been surprisingly easy, Obito thought. But then again, that blue haired girl hadn't really known they were going to appear so she had let her guard down.

Soon, Obito heard Madara come in to where Obito was. Obito was a little confused; even though Madara didn't seem to have Sasuke with him, he looked smug. Obito raised a questioning eyebrow. But Madara ignored it and asked, "How did it go with you?"

Obito nodded, "It was easy. I managed to capture the Nine Tails with no problem."

"Then show him to me." Impatient as always, Madara demanded to see the boy without even asking how Obito had managed to catch him so easily. Obito sighed mentally, but acquiesced right away. For a moment, Obito retreated to the dimension within himself to pull out Naruto.

But as he brought his consciousness and Naruto out of the dimension within himself, he found not a spikey blond haired boy, but a weird blue blob. Both Madara and Obito blinked in surprise as the blob unfolded into a human…ish thing.

It then yawned and said sleepily, "It's about time you let me out of that weird place, there was nothing for me to do there. I was very close to eating myself when I fell asleep."

The two Uchihas looked at each other. Obito didn't look all that surprised, he had thought it was a little too easy when he had captured Naruto. Madara looked very annoyed, "It seems you have failed, Obito. Well, you are very lucky that I did not. Our original plan to break that girl's Jutsu is a go."

"Well, where is Sasuke then? I don't see him, so how did you not fail as well?"

Madara chuckled humorlessly, "It will take time for Sasuke to want to leave the village. I went to him last night to sow more doubt about that girl. It worked; it that way, I have not failed, Obito."

Obito nodded again, Madara was probably right, but Obito wanted things to move faster; he wanted Rin to come back _now!_ Obito was brought out of his thoughts when the Jelly man said, "Hey, as much as I think you guys are cool, I think I'm going to go now. Kouryu seems to have released my summoning so...See ya...hopefully not." and with that he dissapeared with a poof.

'Ah, so that girl's name is Kouryu...' Obito thought, not really caring that Jelly Jiggler was gone, but glad for the information he'd gotten from him

* * *

When Naruto and Kouryu arrived at Sasuke's house on the Uchiha compound, they were greeted by Uchiha Itachi. When the tired looking Uchiha saw Kouryu, an immensely relieved look crossed his eyes and he said, "Kouryu-san, I watched my little brother's dreams as you instructed me to last night. And you were right, Uchiha Madara did invade again."

Kouryu sighed, "I was afraid this would happen. Were you able to do anything?"

Itachi shook his head, "No, there was nothing I could do. Madara didn't activate his Sharingan, so I could do nothing other than observe."

As the two were chatting, Naruto started growing even more confused. Eventually he'd had enough of being out of the loop and asked, "What are you two talking about."

Kouryu started as if she forgot that Naruto was there. She then turned around looking a little sheepish, "Sorry Naruto-kun, I guess this conversation is a little confusing if you don't know what's going on."

"Yeah," Naruto said, eyebrow raised, "So why don't you tell me what's going on?"

Kouryu nodded, "When I created my Jutsu, I figured that Obito and Madara would try to break it through Sasuke. So I gave Itachi the capability to stop Madara or Obito it they attempted to take Sasuke over in the dream world."

**And that ends this chapter. I hope you enjoyed ^_^ Um…I still don't have anything to say…SO…um …Goodbye? See you next week? Please review if you'd like, as always I love to know what you guys think. See you all next week.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	13. Sasuke Throws a Fit

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I am amazed that this story has me it to 12 chapters already. Really, it's amazing. The idea of this story was kind of a spur of the moment thing as a reaction to chapter 600 and now it's become really long! It really is an amazing thing…but I'm starting to run out of ideas…I have a feeling that I'm going to be ending it maybe at around 20 to 25 chapters, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto-Masashi-Sensei.**_

"You did…What?" Naruto blinked, he had heard what Kouryu said, but he didn't quite understand no did he believe what she had just said

Kouryu smiled gently, like she knew that he wouldn't get what she was talking about, "It's like how Itachi implanted the crow with Uchiha Shisui's eye inside you. I've made it so that the illusion of Itachi I created can override any sort of Sharingan based Jutsu that either Madara or Obito try on Sasuke."

As Kouryu explained what she had done, he remembered how Itachi had put the crow inside him. His throat felt soar remembering how he had to essentially vomit that damn thing up as it was forcing its way out of his mouth.

By the end of Kouryu's explanation, Naruto was glaring, just slightly, at Itachi. Itachi seemed to know what Naruto was thinking and chuckled, "Naruto, I am sorry about how the crow came out of you, but it was the only way I could do it at the time.

Naruto's eyes narrowed for a second, but then he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah, I figured that out. But, next time, could you think of an easier way to get your Sharingan crow out of me?"

Itachi chuckled again, "If it ever happens again, I will try and find a way that is easier for you."

Kouryu then said, "If you guys are done, I think we should go find Sasuke." and Naruto detected both a little bit of desperation and impatience in her voice. She was probably just mad that he and Itachi were sharing something that didn't involve her…and maybe she was actually worried about Sasuke too.

But Naruto decided not to voice any of these thoughts. Naruto then trotted a little to catch up to Kouryu and Itachi as the tired looking Uchiha led them into the house. As they were heading to Sasuke's room, Naruto was amazed at both the luxuriousness and shabbiness of the house.

Naruto knew, sort of, that the Uchiha houses hadn't been used since Sasuke left for Orochimaru, but he'd never actually been in one, so he was still slightly jealous that Sasuke had lived in one of these houses and never invited him over.

As Naruto was thinking about how he'd never been invited to Sasuke's house the three arrived at Sasuke's room. Naruto missed Kouryu going into Sasuke's room, but he was soon jolted out of his thoughts when he heard a loud crash and Sasuke shout, "What the hell do you think you're doing in my room?"

Kouryu then said in a calm voice, "I came to apologize for yesterday. What I said was out of line and I wanted to say sorry."

Naruto could feel the force of Sasuke's glare from outside the room as he swore, "Bullshit. That Madara guy told me all about you. You're just here so you can manipulate me like you've manipulated everyone else in the village."

There was a pause and then Kouryu's voice came again, and Naruto could hear the calmness from before cracking, "What did Madara tell you?"

Sasuke barked out a humorless laugh, "Just that you're having fun messing with our heads and that I should make sure you can't mess with mine anymore."

Kouryu sighed, "I'm not 'messing with your head' Sasuke-kun. I'm only trying to protect you from anything that man could do to you."

"Yeah right," Sasuke scoffed, "You can't trick me anymore. There's no way you're 'protecting me' if you were, you'd tell me what you talking about in that dream yesterday."

There was a longer pause, then a quiet, "I can't."

"Why not," Sasuke growled, "It seems you've told Naruto, so why not me?"

"Because," Kouryu seemed to struggle for an answer, "I-I…I just can't…"

"Then Madara was right, you are just manipulating us."

"No," Kouryu's voice turned hard, "I am not manipulating you. I just don't want their plans to succeed. I will go to any lengths to do that—"

"Yeah, well who says we want your protection? What good is it if you won't tell us a thing?"

At that Naruto decided that it was time for him to step in. But before he could, Itachi strode into his little brother's room and said, "Sasuke, there's nothing for you to worry about. If Kouryu isn't telling you something, there's probably a good reason for it."

Sasuke huffed, "So you're on her side too, Nii-san? What is wrong with you? Can't you see that she is tricking you? If you're not careful, something is going to happen to you…at least that's what Madara told me."

"Well," Itachi said matter-of-factly, "then he is lying to you. That man wants only the destruction of this world."

Sasuke then said something too quiet for Naruto to hear and then stalked out of the room, pausing only for a second when he saw Naruto. As the angsty cockatoo-haired boy passed Naruto, he said snidely, "So you're here too, huh? All we need now is for Sakura and Kakashi to be here and the gang would be complete."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, but he didn't by the time he thought of a retort, Sasuke was already gone. Kouryu then trudged out of Sasuke's room, mumbling, "Well, that went well, didn't it…"

Itachi put a hand on Kouryu's shoulder, trying to calm her, "Don't take it too hard. My brother is just confused right now. And that's making him angry. Maybe you should tell him something so he won't think you're the enemy."

"But…" Kouryu said miserably, "then he'll regain his memories and try to leave, won't he?"

Itachi thought about it for a moment, and then he said, "Maybe not. Sasuke may not be all that forgiving of betrayal, but I'm not sure he'd just up and leave. His plans aren't exactly in line with Obito and Madara's. He wants to destroy Konoha and if enemies' plans are realized first, he won't have that chance anymore. So, why not try telling him the truth."

"But I'm afraid it's too late now…The seeds of doubt have already been sown, I'm not sure there's anything I can do about it." Kouryu sighed

"Oh, don't worry about Sasuke," Naruto waved a hand in dismissal, "All you have to do is tie him up and force him to listen to you."

"Huh?" Kouryu looked at Naruto, utterly confused, "What are you talking about?"

"I thought you said you looked through our memories when you created this Jutsu of yours. Don't you remember, after Sasuke's and my fight on the hospital roof, Kakashi and the Ero-Senin lectured us? Kakashi told me that he had to tie up Sasuke to make him listen to him. Why don't we just do that?"

"Um…but didn't that fail in the end, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto scoffed, "Well that's only because those stupid Sound Four guys showed up. If they hadn't, I'm sure Sasuke wouldn't have left. And then we wouldn't be in the pickle we're in now." Naruto grinned; it seemed refreshing to know something that Kouryu didn't know…sort of.

Kouryu laughed, "That's probably true. But first, we should probably try to find him before he leaves the village."

Naruto nodded, that would probably be a good first step. As they were leaving to find Sasuke, Itachi said, "Maybe we should split up to look for him. If we search for him separately, we'll be able to cover a larger amount of territory."

Kouryu paused mid-leap and turned to Itachi, "That sounds like a very good idea. What should we do if one of us finds him, though? Should that person tell Sasuke the truth, or do you think we should gather as a group?"

"We I think we should gather," Naruto said emphatically, "If all of us are there, we'll be able to add to Sasuke's understanding of the situation."

Kouryu and Itachi seemed to agree that confronting Sasuke as a group was better than confronting him alone. The three then agreed on a signal for if one of the others found Sasuke and jumped off in different directions.

**And that ends this chapter. Next chapter, Sasuke will learn the truth, or at least some of it. Maybe he'll stop being an emo boy then! I doubt it…I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well ^_^ and as always if you'd like please leave a review, I always love to know what you guys think. See you next week then guys.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	14. In Which Sasuke is Found Trying to Leave

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here is the 13****th**** Chapter! Yay! In other news I really want to get Gintama volume 47 tomorrow. I want it so much that this week has been extra-long. Well, anyway here's this week's chapter**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei Dattebayo!**_

Itachi sighed, it hadn't taken him long to find his brother at all. The reason he'd suggested that the three of them split up was because he wanted to try and tell Sasuke what was happening on his own. It probably wouldn't work, but Itachi felt that he had to at least try.

But after he found Sasuke, though, he found himself just following silently behind him, tracking where he was going to go. Itachi wasn't sure why he wasn't trying to talk to him, but he just couldn't bring himself to. There was something telling him just to watch Sasuke to see where he was going.

Sasuke eventually stopped at the entrance/exit gate to Konoha and turned, glaring into Itachi's surprised eyes. Itachi wasn't proud to admit this, but he hadn't expected his brother to turn around so suddenly.

Seeing it was Itachi who had followed him, Sasuke sighed wearily, "Nii-san, what do you want? If it's to convince me to trust that Kouryu girl, you won't have any luck. How can I trust someone who won't even tell me something they're clearly hiding from me?"

"Ok, then I won't try to convince you of anything," Itachi said, trying to keep his voice light, "I just want to know where you're going."

Sasuke seemed a little suspicious of Itachi's question, but he answered it anyway, "I think I'm going to leave the village for a little while. I don't really want to run into that girl anymore."

At that, Itachi smiled sadly, and shot towards Sasuke, thin, silver wire appearing in his hands. Itachi flicked his hands out, and was glad there was a tree almost directly behind his brother. As the wire encircled Sasuke, and crushed him painfully against the tree's sturdy trunk, Itachi murmured softly, "Sorry, Sasuke, I had to. We can't have you leaving the village at the moment." And he prepared the signal flare.

* * *

Kouryu was walking around in Konoha, looking and listening around her. She'd been looking for Sasuke for a couple hours now and she was becoming a little frustrated. She had searched for him at some of the places she'd seen him go when she looked through his memories, but he wasn't at any of those places.

Almost at her patience limit, Kouryu was considering giving up and returning to the Uchiha complex to see if Sasuke'd returned there as well. As she was thinking this, the dragon said, "Kouryu, don't you think you should check the entrance to the village?"

"Why would he go there?" Kouryu asked feigning confusion, of course she knew she should check there, but there was a small part of her that wanted to still believe that the younger Uchiha wouldn't believe what that damn Madara would say.

She could feel the dragon roll its icy eyes at her, "You know perfectly well why he would try to leave the village. It you're stupid enough to believe that Madara didn't brainwash him, then you're not the person I trained."

Kouryu sighed quietly, she knew the dragon was right; it would soon be time to either end this Jutsu or stop Madara's plans from coming to fruition. And if those plans involved Sasuke, they'd have to stop him too. There may be a part of Kouryu that wanted to believe that Sasuke wasn't going to cause trouble, but she would probably have to suppress that part of herself soon enough.

Just as she was about to answer the dragon, she heard more than saw the flare. She turned in the direction she thought it came from and saw the fading swirl shaped smoke in the sky. And of course, it was near the entrance/exit to the village. Kouryu ran in the flare's direction, hoping she'd get there in time.

* * *

Naruto saw the signal flare at around the same time that Kouryu did. Actually, more accurately, he heard when someone else saw it. He was eating lunch at Ichiraku Ramen when it went off (after all, who can search for an angsty emo on an empty stomach). So with noodles dangling from his mouth he stuck his head outside the Ramen store when he heard someone shout, "Why would someone be shooting off fireworks in the middle of the day? That would look so much better at night."

Naruto blinked in slight surprise when he saw that the flare was coming from the direction of the exit/entrance of the village. He was amazed that someone had found Sasuke so quickly; Naruto had thought him the type who would be really good at hide and seek.

Naruto then shrugged and ducked back inside Ichiraku Ramen to finish his extra garlicky pork Ramen. After eating the large bowl of noodles a little too quickly, Naruto paid the bill and ran to the gate, his mouth burning from the heat helping him arrive faster.

When Naruto arrived at the gate, he saw Itachi and Kouryu huddled around a nearby tree, Itachi holding what looked to be very thin wire. As Naruto got closer, he saw what the wire was being used for. The two had somehow managed to tie up Sasuke, and Itachi was holding the two ends so the binding was secure.

When Naruto got even closer, Kouryu turned to him looking tired and slightly annoyed, "Where have you been Naruto-kun? Did you not see the flare?"

Naruto scratched his cheek, flushing a little, "Um…well I was eating lunch when I saw it. So I finished my lunch before rushing over here."

Kouryu sighed and gave Naruto but she said nothing. She then turned back to Sasuke and said, "So now that we're all here, we're going to explain some things to you Sasuke-kun."

"And what exactly are you going to 'explain to me', huh? What happened to you 'I can't tell you' from before?" Sasuke spat angrily, clearly not enjoying being tied up.

Naruto shot Sasuke a barbed glare for being so rude to Kouryu who was just trying to help, and Kouryu looked more tired than ever. But when she opened her mouth to start explaining, it was Itachi who said the first words, "Sasuke, I am an illusion."

The younger Uchiha's eyes bugged and he looked at his brother in utter disbelief, "What are you talking about, Nii-san? You're not an illusion, I can touch you!"

"Even so," Itachi said kindly yet firmly, trying to make his brother understand, "I am a Genjutsu that Rinrin Kouryu created in order to forestall the plans of two people who want to destroy the world as we know it."

"No," Sasuke shook his head resolutely, trying very hard to not believe his brother's words, "I won't lose you again?"

"Hah?" Naruto blinked, "What do you mean 'you won't lose him again', Sasuke-Teme?"

"That is no concern of yours, Naruto," Sasuke growled angrily, "so butt out."

"Then will you tell me what you mean?" Itachi asked somewhat gently

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked away from the three, as if just putting his thoughts into words was bringing him pain. After a long pause, Sasuke finally said, "I've…been having dreams where you die in front of me, Nii-san. There's this other guy with white hair and snake like skin there too. You walk up to him and release some Jutsu. Then you walk back over to me and just…disappear. It's not— I don't—I wouldn't be able to take that in real life, Nii-san."

Itachi looked like he had no idea what to say. Naruto who actually didn't know what Sasuke was talking about really didn't know what to say. Eventually it was Kouryu who said, "That wasn't just a dream, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke's head snapped up, and he looked like Kouryu had just slapped him hard, "What are you talking about! And don't give me that 'I can't tell you' crap anymore; I want to know the truth!"

Kouryu looked directly into Sasuke's eyes, "Ok, I'll tell you why I cast a Jutsu on you and erased much of your memory."

**And that ends this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Something sorta related but, I'm a little disappointed with how Naruto's going at the moment. The whole "Ninja Alliance no Jutsu" is just a little bit dumb in my humble opinion. I liked it better when it was just Kakashi, Gai, Naruto, Bee and the two Bijuus fighting against Madara, Obito, and the Juubi. Oh well, I'm not the write, though, so I sadly cannot influence the Naruto chapters. Well anyway, if you'd like please review, as always I love to know what you guys think. So see you next week then, guys.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	15. Things Begin to Fall Apart

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I bring to you, after a week and a day break, the 14****th**** chapter. I hope you guys enjoy ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

Sasuke looked at the dragon girl expectantly. Even though she had said she would tell him why she stole his memories, she had yet to say anything regarding the subject. Sasuke was beginning to lose what little patience he had yet.

Finally, the girl looked at him in the eye again and said, "Before I say anything, though, I'm going to release the Jutsu on you."

Sasuke raised a skeptical eyebrow as Kouryu began watching toward him, fingers outstretched. She put her fingers to his forehead in a gesture that had Sasuke feeling very nostalgic. As the raven-haired Uchiha looked toward his brother, he remembered long-past times when the long-haired Uchiha had poked him in the same way whispering sadly, 'Sorry me Sasuke, maybe next time.'

And then his thoughts were interrupted when Kouryu whispered, "Kai". The younger Uchiha's eyes widened as he felt some sort of floodgate open. Memories began to flow through behind his eyes, like he was watching a movie.

Soon the flood of memories started to overwhelm Sasuke, and he found himself slipping into unconsciousness. The last thing he remembered as the world turned black was his brother, bleeding and blind, saying with a sad smile, 'Sorry Sasuke, this is the last time.'

Naruto watched as his former comrade slumped back onto the tree he was tied against. He was a little worried, though he wouldn't admit that aloud, that Sasuke would not react very well to the onslaught of memories. Naruto imagined that once Sasuke woke up, memories intact, he'd either want to leave the village to help the other two Uchihas or destroy Konoha like he'd wanted to before. Either way didn't seem very good to Naruto.

Naruto was going to say something to Itachi and Kouryu, but before he could, Sasuke woke up. Naruto was not expecting Sasuke to look so weary; angry or rebellious maybe, but tired was not a look Naruto knew Sasuke to have.

The younger Uchiha then tried to stand up, but remembered that he was tied to the tree. He then looked at his three captors in turn and said in a voice Naruto almost didn't recognize as Sasuke's, "Why am I here, Kouryu? If anything I'd ruin your plans. And depending on what you tell me now, I still might leave."

"I know," Kouryu started with a sigh, "I'm still hoping you won't though. I guess, to begin with, I should tell you about the tailed beast inside me." And she began telling Sasuke the same story she had told Naruto when he had regained his memories. The only difference was that Kouryu told Sasuke the whole story herself, and the dragon did not make any appearance.

At first, Naruto wondered why Kouryu didn't let the dragon tell the story like she did last time. But then he realized that the dragon probably didn't like Sasuke all that much, if earlier interactions were anything to go by, so she probably refused to appear.

And then, after a while, Kouryu was done with the story of her past. Naruto, Kouryu, and Itachi, then stood there, watching Sasuke, gauging his reaction. Naruto knew that Sasuke probably wouldn't care all that much about the dragon girl's past, and e was right.

Sasuke looked as bored as ever, like something that had happened a long time ago wasn't something he wanted to hear at all. His next sentence backed up what Naruto was thinking, "I don't particularly care about what happened in your past. You still haven't told me why you stole all our memories and trapped us in this village."

"I didn't steal your memories," Kouryu huffed, looking indignant but not surprised at what Sasuke said, "I just suppressed them. All I did was push them under the surface, so no one would get confused."

"Whatever," Sasuke rolled his eyes, annoying Naruto a little, "I don't really care about anyone else. I just want to know why I was included in your scheme as well."

"Because the more Sharingan users we have, the better." Kouryu responded after a slight pause

"Then wouldn't you, Kakashi, and my illusion brother be enough?"

"No, my Aojaringan isn't really able to combat a real Sharingan and Itachi's Sharingan was made to only work in the dream world."

"Tch," Sasuke made an annoyed sound, like he wanted nothing more to do with Konoha, "Why do you even care what happens to this village? It's not like you have anything to do with what happens here."

Kouryu sighed, "This place is very important. You must not succumb to the will of Madara and Obito. They only want revenge on what was taken from them, they care not for what harm it will cause others."

"What's so bad about revenge?" Sasuke snapped, an angry fire alight in his eyes, "I want revenge on this village for driving my brother to death. Do you think you can stop me too?"

Kouryu sighed again, looking more tired than ever, "Revenge doesn't bring back what you've lost. If you destroy Konoha, will Itachi come back?"

Sasuke looked like he'd been punched in the stomach, like he'd never thought about what the aftermath of his revenge would bring. It was like the very thought that his brother would not be revived from the dead after he destroyed the village had not occurred to him.

After a while, Sasuke opted for a glare and a growl, "As I told that Obito guy before, my brother is more important to me than this lousy village. Even if Itachi loved this place, I'm going to destroy it because this village destroyed him."

It was Itachi who spoke this time, his voice soft but stern, like a parent scolding an errant child "Sasuke, you're acting like a child. You need to grow up, the path you are following right now will lead you nowhere you want to go."

Sasuke turned his glare toward the 'brother' he claimed to love, "What would you know about the right path to follow, you're just a Genjutsu. Don't tell me what to do like you're my real brother."

The Genjutsu Itachi blinked, but before he could say anything, Sasuke snapped the wire that was binding him to the tree. After standing up, he glared at the other three, his gaze lingered a little longer on Kouryu than the others.

The cockatoo-haired boy then strode past the three saying, "If you have nothing else to say then I'm leaving. Anywhere is better than here."

Sasuke ignored any further attempts the other three made to stop him from leaving. As he put his hand out to push the door open, he jumped back as the door began to freeze over. He turned back to see Kouryu, hand outstretched, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Once she was done, Sasuke chuckled, it was a low humorless sound, "You thought ice would stop me?"

Kouryu opened her mouth to reply, but Sasuke had already turned away, weaving hand-signs. Sasuke then sucked in a large breath and blew out a large fireball, the signature Uchiha Jutsu of Katon Gou Kakyu no Jutsu.

Naruto wondered if in chakra enhanced fire would be able to melt Ice Dragon chakra enhanced ice. The ice seemed to be holding for a little while, but soon Naruto could see the cracks. After a minute or two more, the ice shattered and Sasuke stopped his Jutsu. Sasuke once again began walking toward the door. Once he was close enough, he pushed it open and Naruto thought he heard something pop.

**And that ends this chapter. I'm sorry I didn't get it posted earlier. I meant to, but on the plane ride home I got distracted with writing a chapter of my latest Gintama story. And then yesterday, my family and I were busy decorating gingerbread houses so no writing got done then either. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite it being a week and a day late. As always feel free to review if you liked, I always like to know what you guys thought. See you, hopefully, next week then.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	16. An Agreement and an Order

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I bring to you the 15****th**** chapter. And it's on time this week! Whoo hoo! Well without further ado, here it is.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei**_

Naruto waited, watching for some invisible to crack and shatter, or something like that anyway. But then Sasuke came back, looking confused, "Well, was that it?" Naruto asked, "That was anticlimactic."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as if Naruto was an even bigger idiot than he originally thought, but it was Kouryu who answered, "Yes, Naruto-kun, that's it for the moment. This Jutsu disables slowly. All the occupants of the Jutsu get their memories back and all the illusions disappear. But, this can't happen quickly. It'll take a few days."

"Well," Naruto shrugged, "at least that means we have some time to prepare for Madara's and Obito's arrival."

"That we do, Naruto-kun," Kouryu chuckled, cheered by Naruto's boundless optimism. She then turned to Sasuke with a glare, "And congratulations are in order for you Sasuke-kun. You are about to lose your brother for the third time."

"Humph," Sasuke huffed, "no need to be so pissy, Kouryu. This probably would have happened eventually anyway. Maybe, if you had told me what I wanted to know sooner, then it wouldn't have come to this and you could still live in your fantasy land for a little while longer."

Kouryu's glare intensified, but before she could say anything further, Naruto stepped in, playing peacekeeper, "Ok, that's enough. Both of you were wrong. But for now, can you please put whatever differences you have aside and work together to defeat the other two Uchiha?"

"I doubt that," Sasuke rolled his eyes, "why shouldn't I work with Madara and that Obito guy? They both seem to want the same thing I do, to destroy Konoha."

"I know that as well as you do Sasuke," Naruto stated, "but don't you want to be the one to destroy Konoha?"

"What do you mean by that? Aren't you going to be the one to stop me?"

"Yeah, I plan on stopping you. But, if you actually managed to destroy our village, wouldn't you want to be the one who takes the credit? I mean if you let Madara and Kakashi's teammate do it, you probably won't get any satisfaction of destroying the village you've come to hate so much."

Sasuke blinked in surprise, at a complete loss for words. After a minute, Sasuke finally found his tongue again, "What the hell Naruto? When did you get to be so smart? Three years ago, you'd never have said something like that."

Puffing out his chest, Naruto beamed, "Well, while you've been gone I've been training both mind and body. You shouldn't be so surprised, Sasuke-teme."

Sasuke, in an uncharacteristic gesture, chuckled and there was a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, as if he was enjoying spending time with Naruto again. Naruto, seeing Sasuke in what was a relatively good mood for him, started laughing himself. The two eventually began to laugh uncontrollably for seemingly no reason at all.

Once the loud peals of borderline hysterical laughter subsided into breathy giggles, Naruto asked, suddenly realizing something, "So, this does mean you're working with us, right?"

Sasuke, whose laughter had almost stopped completely, started laughing again. After another minute, Sasuke, clutching his stomach, finally managed to say, "Y-yes, you idiot, I'm going to help you out. You've convinced me that I'd rather destroy your precious village myself than let some other revenge crazed Uchiha do it. Besides, I never liked that Kabuto guy. So I consider the fact that they decided to use him as an insult to me."

Naruto blinked; amazed that Sasuke had spoken so much at one time. He wanted to say something, but there were almost no words to describe how he felt that Sasuke had decided to work with them again. So maybe he was still planning on destroying Konoha, but it was at least a start that he'd put that on hold to help them stop Madara and Obito.

Naruto's thoughts were soon interrupted when he heard a voice say, "Sorry to disrupt this reunion, but the Hokage needs to talk to you."

Everyone turned to see Kakashi leaning against the tree that Sasuke was previously tied to. Naruto, feeling slightly confused asked, "Kakashi-Sensei, why would Tsunade-baa-chan want to talk to us?"

"Well, now that Kouryu's Jutsu has been broken, the Hokage sees no reason to continue pretending to have lost her memories."

At both Naruto's and Sasuke's questioning looks, Kouryu winced just slightly, as if she really had expected Kakashi to show up at this very moment but hadn't wanted him to, and said, "I didn't think it would be a good idea to change the Hokage's memories lest I face her wrath, so I didn't. I also didn't tamper with Kakashi's memories because I needed someone who'd be able to watch the other people of the village without seeming suspicious."

Turning to their teacher for conformation, they saw him nod slightly backing up what Kouryu had told them. Kakashi then asked, still leaning against the tree, "So, Kouryu, did you convince our resident Uchiha brat to help us out?"

Naruto was amazed that Sasuke didn't make any comment at what his former teacher had called him as Kouryu answered, "Yeah, he's going to help us. But it wasn't me who convinced him, Naruto-kun did."

"Yep," Kakashi nodded, "our number-one knuckle-headed Ninja has a knack for that alright. Well, we really shouldn't keep the Hokage waiting too much longer." Everyone (including the Genjutsu Itachi who'd been all but forgotten during this conversation) nodded and began following Kakashi to the Hokage's chambers.

* * *

"I'd like you to leave the village." Tsunade said without preamble as soon as Kouryu and the others had arrived in her room

Naruto, being who he is, blurted out, "Baa-chan, what are you talking about? Kouryu has done nothing but try and help us since she got here. Sending her away is not a good idea."

Tsunade huffed, tired of Naruto's constant outbursts, "That is not your decision to make, Naruto. Because of her so called 'help' our village has been put under direct threat of Uchiha Madara, Tobi, and the ten tails. Why shouldn't this girl leave?"

"Because," Naruto said, exasperated that the Hokage couldn't see things from his point of view for once, "she's probably the only once could be of the most use to us."

"And how is that?" Tsunade asked, clearly losing her patience.

"Because…" Naruto started,

But before he could think of a reason that Tsunade should let Kouryu stay, the very girl they were talking about spoke up, "With all due respect, Tsunade-sama, I'm not planning on leaving this village any time soon. There's still much that I need to do here."

"What exactly do you 'need' to do here? You tried to stop those two from coming here and failed, I don't see what else you could possible 'need' to do here."

"Of course you don't, ma'am," Kouryu looked directly into the Hokage's eyes, "You're not trying to protect someone else's village like I am."

"Excuse me?" Tsunade asked, eyebrow raised imperiously

"Well, it's just that we're aiming for slightly different things here. I'm trying to protect a place that's become important to me over a few days while you're trying to protect something that you have a long history with."

"That," Tsunade said after a short pause, "makes no sense."

"Of course it doesn't to you, Hokage-sama. You probably couldn't understand why a person of some other village you've probably never even heard of wanting to help out a possible enemy like Konoha. I'm guessing you think that I'm in league with those two Uchiha and that if I stay here any longer I'm going to lead them here."

Tsunade, who had clearly lost her temper by the end of Kouryu's mini speech said in an icily angry voice, "Get out. That is an order. Until further notice, you are not to set foot in this village again."

"Fine," Kouryu said in a similar tone of voice to the Hokage's, "I'll leave. But know this, you're going to want my help if you ever want to defeat Uchiha Madara and Tobi." And with that she turned and left the room.

**And that ends this chapter…I don't really have anything to say this time, so see you next week guys. As always, reviews are appreciated I love to know what you guys think. Until next year then, guys.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	17. In Which Things are Smoothed Over

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here is the 16****th**** chapter of this story. I hope you enjoy…that's all I have to say at the moment…**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

As Kouryu stalked out the door, Naruto found himself caught between going after her and trying to convince Tsunade to let the dragon girl to stay. He looked between the now closing door and the glowering Tsunade, sitting in her chair, her hands laced together angrily.

Naruto sighed, eventually and turned back to Tsunade after one last look at the door that was now closed. Naruto leveled a frustrated look at the Hokage and asked, "Baa-chan, you do know that she's probably the only way we're going to beat Madara and Obito, don't you?"

Tsunade matched Naruto's almost-glare with a dark look of her own, "And why exactly do you believe that's true, Naruto?"

"Because," Naruto stated matter-of-factly, "She managed to protect us for them until now."

"How do you know she's not just working for those two and planning to turn us over to them?" Tsunade asked with raised eyebrow

"Why would she do go to the trouble of putting us all in this Jutsu, then?" Naruto countered with a question of his own

"Probably so we'd all be in one place when she decided to betray us to the Akatsuki."

"That's ridiculous." everyone in the room to see that it was Sasuke who had spoken. Sasuke was leaning on a wall in the back of the room, looking as if this was the most boring thing he'd ever had to stand through.

Tsunade then asked, looking very tired about all the opposition she was receiving to sending the girl away, "And what is it that you find so ridiculous about what I just said, Uchiha Sasuke? Need I remind you that you are a rogue Ninja and that we can prosecute you for all the crimes you have committed in the past?"

"Go ahead," Sasuke said, "I don't particularly care one way or another. But if you do, you'll probably have no chance of defeating the other two Uchihas. One Sharingan user is probably not enough, despite the other Sharingan user here being Kakashi."

"Then, why don't you try telling me what you found so ridiculous earlier."

"Fine," Sasuke looked up at Tsunade, "I'll tell you. That girl, she's not the type to try so hard for people she's about to betray."

"And how would you know that?" Tsunade questioned, her eyebrow arching even higher

"Because," Sasuke answered, a defiant look in his eyes, "when I broke her Jutsu by leaving the village, the feelings she unconsciously wove in the Jutsu flowed into my mind. There was no malice toward you when she cast that Jutsu. If she was planning to sell you out to the Akatsuki then there probably would have been some of that in the Jutsu."

"And how is it that you are able to identify these emotions?"

"I just can," Sasuke shrugged, "Listen to my thoughts on the matter or don't. I really couldn't care less at this point. I'm only here because Naruto convinced me to be here. It still doesn't really matter to me what happens to this village."

Tsunade sighed and rolled her eyes. Just as Naruto thought she was still going to reject Kouryu's help, she turned to Kakashi and asked, "And what do you think of all this, Kakashi?"

Kakashi made a small gesture that seemed to say 'leave me out of this'. But after a moment of thinking, he answered, "I think the girl means well. I doubt that she's plotting against us, she doesn't seem the disingenuous type to me. Maybe you should give her a try, Hokage-sama. If it goes badly, we can deal with the situation then."

Tsunade rolled her eyes again, looking displeased at everything for getting in her way of kicking out the possibly dangerous Ninja. But it seemed that this was an argument that she couldn't win, so with one last sigh, she said deliberately, "Fine, the dragon child can stay and help us defeat Madara and Obito."

Naruto happy that Tsunade had finally relented, was about to cheer, but was interrupted when Tsunade added "But, if shows any signs of betrayal, I will not hesitate to order her disposed of." Everyone in the room, sans Sasuke of course, nodded in agreement with the Hokage's orders.

Seeing that everyone in the room she could count on was now in agreement with her, she turned to Naruto and barked, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go find your friend and bring her back here, there's a lot we must discuss."

Naruto nodded in grateful assent and then, dragging Sasuke along with him, left Tsunade's office in search of Kouryu. As the two old comrades were leaving the Hokage's building Naruto asked, "So, what was is like to know Kouryu's feelings when you broke her Jutsu?"

Sasuke scoffed, "I wouldn't know. I didn't experience anything like that."

"Then why did you tell all that stuff to the Hokage?" Naruto chuckled

Sasuke almost laughed aloud, but suppressed it at the last second. Once the raven-haired Ninja had regained his composure again, he answered Naruto's question, a fain hint of amusement in his voice,  
"Because I saw the look on your face. You've really put your trust into that girl. So, I figured I'd trust your judgment for once."

"Amazing," Naruto responded, "You'd have never done that before."

There was a pause and then, "…That's not entirely true."

Naruto, in shock at the words coming out of his former comrade's mouth, stopped and turned to look at Sasuke. Sasuke, a knowing look on his face, shook his head slightly, saying, "Not now, Naruto, I'll tell you later. Right now we need to look for Kouryu."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, but decided that Sasuke was right and that finding Kouryu was more of a priority at the moment. He could ask Sasuke all about how the raven-haired boy trusted him later. Naruto then gave Sasuke, who was looking at him expectantly, a slight nod, and started walking again.

Once Naruto and Sasuke were out of the Hokage's tower, it didn't take them long to find Kouryu. In her anger at the Hokage, was stalking toward the edge of the village. As the dragon girl was walking around, the air around her was extruding her cold, frozen anger. In her anger, Kouryu had lost some of her Chakra control which was making the temperature around her freeze.

As Naruto and Sasuke got closer to the dragon girl, they both began to shiver. It's not like neither of them hadn't experienced Kouryu's anger before, but it was something else to see her so angry that the very air around her displayed her mood. Neither really wanted to experience this anger up close.

But, just as both of the two young Ninja were thinking about how scary Kouryu seemed at the moment, she turned around, glowering, "What do you two want? Has that Hokage of yours sent you two to escort me out of her precious village?"

"N-no," Naruto started reluctantly, "Sasuke and I helped change the Hokage's mind about your banishment from the village. In fact, she sent us to bring you back."

"Oh, really?" Kouryu asked haughtily, "And what makes you think that I would want to help you now, after the way I've been treated?"

"Well," Naruto started, "I think you still want to stop Madara and Obito just like we do. So I don't see why you wouldn't want to still help us."

Kouryu gave Naruto a look, so Sasuke added, "Oh, come off it, ice-girl. The Hokage was just being cautious. Besides, after kicking you out, she probably would have given me the boot as well."

Kouryu blinked, and the atmosphere around her seemed to lighten up just a little, "How true, Sasuke-kun. After all, we both did some things that were probably extremely questionable in Tsunade's mind."

"Yep," Naruto nodded, not wanting to be left out, "Sasuke's right for once. So, you should come back with us, since baa-chan is willing to talk with you now."

Kouryu chuckled as Sasuke said, "Naruto, that made no sense. I don't think your brain works logically if that made any sense to you."

Naruto huffed, slightly miffed. But before he could respond to Sasuke's insult, he heard Kouryu say, "Ok, I'll go with you. I want to know what the Hokage has to say."

Naruto grinned over at Kouryu, Sasuke's insult now completely forgotten, "Ok, then! Let's get ready to kick some Akatsuki ass!" and the three made their way back to the Hokage's tower.

**And that ends this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and I hope you all had a great new year. My New Year's was nice and relaxing. Well…I don't have anything else to say this time. So, as always leave a review if you'd like, I always love to know what you guys think. 'Til next week then.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	18. In Which a Plan is Formed

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Sorry that this chapter is a few days late. I meant to post this chapter a few days ago, but then another story idea came to me, and I spent the day writing that instead. So, even though it's a few days late, here's the 17****th**** chapter ^_^ I hope you enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

When Naruto, Sasuke, and Kouryu returned to the Hokage's room, Kakashi and Tsunade seemed to be deep in some sort of conversation. Naruto, deciding that he didn't really feel like being ignored, closed the door loudly once Kouryu was inside and announced, "Tsunade-baa-chan, we're back."

Both older Ninja started at Naruto's sudden entrance and while Kakashi seemed to be suppressing a chuckle, Tsunade did not seem amused. The Hokage, glowering at Naruto said, slightly annoyed, "Yes, we can see that you're back. And I see that you've brought the girl with you."

Kouryu's eyebrow twitched slightly, and she addressed the Hokage icily, "Yes, the 'girl' is back. But if you keep acting the way you are, she will leave again very soon."

Tsunade sighed, "You're right, I shouldn't be ostracizing you. After all, you did come here to help us. I'm not actually opposed to you helping us; it's just that everything has me too tense to act civilly toward outsiders."

Kouryu blinked at the sudden apology, but before she could say anything else, Kakashi spoke up, "The rest of us feel tense as well, Hokage-sama. But now is not the time to let the tension drive us apart. Now, we need to come up with a plan to beat Uchiha Madara and…Tobi." Kakashi finished, unwilling to acknowledge their other opponent was his former comrade.

Naruto looked like he wanted to say some words of encouragement to his teacher, seeing the look on his former teacher's face. But the blond Ninja held his tongue when Kouryu said, "I know this must be hard on you, Kakashi-san, fighting a comrade you thought was long dead. But I hope you will be able to put any lingering feelings you have aside."

Kakashi snorted, "I never thought I'd hear that from a brat from another village. I think I'll manage to keep my unresolved feelings in check."

"That's good," Naruto chimed in, "we don't need you having another stone spell like you did when we fought him before."

"Did you just call my surprise at seeing the person I thought to be dead all this time a 'stone spell'? Wow Naruto, I think that was weird. Even by your standards."

Naruto looked like he was about to start arguing with Kakashi, so Tsunade stepped in, cutting the argument off before it could begin, "Enough you two. Now is not the time for fun and games. We need to think up a strategy for beating the two Uchihas."

Everyone in the room nodded, but no one seemed to have any idea as to what would work against the two Uchihas. Unfortunately, Naruto's team was at a disadvantage because of the Juubi that their opponents had at their disposal. If not for that particular powerful asset on their enemies' side, there might be more of a chance of defeating the Akatsuki members.

After a long time of thoughtful silence, Kouryu finally spoke up, "I think I may have a plan."

"Don't keep us waiting," Naruto said, after Kouryu hadn't continued her thought after a few seconds, "The faster we have a plan, the faster we can put it into action."

Sasuke, eyebrow raised in amusement, "Amazing Naruto, I actually agree with what you're saying for once."

Naruto scowled at Sasuke, resenting that the raven-haired boy still thought he was the idiot he had been what seemed a long time ago. Kouryu, looking amused, began speaking again, "I think we should use Sasuke as bait to draw the last two Akatsuki members into the village. Then we should overwhelm them with our combined numbers."

Tsunade blinked in surprise, "That…actually sounds like a good plan. Those two seemed to want Sasuke on their side after all."

Kouryu, a smile appearing on her lips, was about to say something (probably a slightly snarky comment on how, of course, she could come up with good plans) when she was interrupted by Sasuke, who asked irritably, "And what makes you guys think I'm going to assent to this plan?"

Kouryu turned to Sasuke then and said, "Because that's the most plausible thing. If any of us were to try to lure them here, those two would know something was up."

"I understand why you think I should be the one to put your plan into action," Sasuke said, "but don't you get that I don't really want to take a front seat in your plan? Since I don't really care about Konoha, wouldn't it be better if I wasn't in the foreground?"

Kouryu sighed, but it was Naruto who answered the Uchiha boy's questions, "You may not think you're suited for this plan, Sasuke-teme, but you're definitely the only one who can do it."

"And why is that, Naruto?" Sasuke asked with a scoff

"Because, you'd be the one to most likely betray the village. As Kouryu said, if any of us were to try and lure them here, they'd know something was up. So, you're the only one who can do it."

Sasuke's shoulders shook with silent laughter. Once the sudden laughing fit subsided, Sasuke said, slightly breathless, "Fine, I'll do it. But I have one addition to this plan."

"What would that be?" Tsunade asked

"Kouryu has to come with me. I don't feel that doing this alone would be a good idea."

"No," Tsunade said without hesitation, "I cannot allow that."

"And why not?" Sasuke asked, "Are you afraid that we're both going to betray you?"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Sasuke, "You could say that," she said icily, "I think, though, that if the dragon girl came along with you, those two would be more suspicious than if you went by yourself."

"That may be," Sasuke replied, matching Tsunade's tone, "but it things south, I'd rather not have to call for backup that probably won't come."

"Humph," Tsunade grunted, "the only reason you'd think that backup wouldn't come for you is because you don't think you deserve it, isn't it."

"No," Sasuke stated, "I just think that you don't trust me. But, I don't really think I'll be betraying you for the duration of my stay here. I'm not so keen on teaming up with those two any longer."

Tsunade sighed, and Naruto wondered if the lady Hokage was going to relent any time soon. Thankfully, Tsunade's sigh turned into words of acquiescence, "Fine I will allow you to put this plan of yours into action."

"Thank you." both Sasuke and Kouryu said at the same time

"But," Tsunade said sternly, "If either of you even think about betraying me or the village, I will bar your entrance back into the village and let those Akatsuki Uchihas have their way with you."

Kouryu nodded in understanding, "We know that you don't trust us Hokage-sama, but thank you for allowing us to put this plan into action despite you misgivings."

Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Flattery will get you nowhere, Rinrin Kouryu. Now you are dismissed, go make any preparations you need to make. We put your plan into action tomorrow morning."

Kouryu nodded one more time and then left the room, whispering quietly to her dragon, thinking about how they could make this plan work. Naruto watched Kouryu leave Tsunade's office, wondering himself if this plan would work.

**And that ends this chapter. Next chapter begins the endgame to this story…maybe, we'll see. Well, that's all I have to say this author's note. So, as always if you'd like please leave a review, I love to know what you guys think. So, until next week then, guys.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	19. The Mission's Start and the Night Before

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Sorry for the late update, I meant to update sooner, but school intervened…well, that's not completely true…I just didn't really have the motivation to write this chapter until now…Anyway, here's the 18****th**** chapter, I hope y'all enjoy ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

That evening as Naruto was in his room, putting his pajamas on (his mom seemed strangely adamant about for some reason); he heard a knock at this window. He went over and opened the curtains and was slightly surprised to see that Kouryu was sitting outside his house, looking a little forlorn.

Naruto raised a perplexed eyebrow and opened the window, "Kouryu, what's up?"

Sighing, Kouryu said, "Just wanna talk. Come up to the roof with me?"

Naruto smiled, "Sure" and he leapt out his window and followed Kouryu up to the roof. Even though Kouryu had said that she wanted to talk, when the two got to the roof a few seconds later, no talking happened for a long time. The two just sat on the roof of Naruto's house, looking at the starry night sky.

Eventually though, Naruto getting bored of the silence asked, "So, Kouryu, what was it that you wanted to talk about? You worried about tomorrow?"

The Dragon Jinchuuriki was silent for a moment longer, and then after another sigh, she said quietly, "Yeah, I guess I am worried…"

"Why?" Naruto asked, truly puzzled, "You and Sasuke'll do fine. I know he may not seem like much, but the guy's some of the best backup out there. You've nothing to worry about."

Kouryu began chuckling quietly before Naruto was finished speaking. Naruto gave the girl a good-natured glare and she said, "You really know what to say, don't you, Naruto-kun. When I talk to you, my worries all seem to melt away. How are you able to be so confident that everything will work out?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Ain't nothing to it really. I just know that you two can get the job done. I mean, I saw the way you two worked together during the training exercise. As I said, you don't need to worry, it'll all be fine."

Kouryu grinned at Naruto, "When you put it that way, I can't help but believe you."

Naruto grinned back, "As you should. I have great intuition about these things, after all. It's too bad I can't come with you, though, I don't really like sitting on the sidelines and waiting to see what happens."

Kouryu's grin faded slightly, "Yeah, I wish you could come with us too. But…waiting isn't so bad…is it?"

"Oh, it's bad alright," Naruto groaned, "You don't know what it's like, not knowing what's going on. It makes me antsy, not something I like to be normally."

"Yeah," Kouryu said after a minute, an apologetic look on her face, "I'm sorry that you can't come with us. But, if you did, they'd know something was up…I think."

Naruto nodded, and the two drifted into silence again. Naruto wasn't particularly looking forward to tomorrow, he really didn't like waiting. But, Kouryu was right, if he went with them, those two would know something was up. He really didn't want to, but he knew he had no choice but to sit this one out.

After a while, Naruto's eyes began to grow heavy. He wasn't sure why, but all of a sudden he was extremely tired. Unable to suppress a large yawn, Naruto turned to Kouryu to suggest they both go get some rest.

But, the dragon Jinchuuriki was also asleep next to him. She looked so young, sleeping curled up in a small ball like she was, it amazed Naruto at how different the sleeping Kouryu was from her awake self. Naruto, smiling sleepily, decided that it was too much effort to go back to his room, so he lay down on the roof and fell asleep, the light of the many stars above him lulling him into the dreams.

* * *

The next morning, Naruto woke up to the sun shining brightly in his eyes. He sat up and looked around dazedly, wondering why his whole body didn't hurt from sleeping on the roof all night. Blinking in slight confusion, he saw that he was back in his room, on his bed.

Naruto, wondering for a confused moment if his dad or mom had brought him from the roof, saw a small note near his bed. He opened it and saw that it was from Kouryu: _Thank you for last night, Naruto-kun, it really cheered me up. I know you probably won't get this until the morning since you seem to be such a sound sleeper. But I just wanted to say thank you and to let you know that it was an immense pleasure to meet you. –__凛々コウリュ_

Naruto glared at the offending piece of paper just slightly. The way Kouryu had worded her letter, made it seem as if she wasn't planning to make it out of this mission alive. That annoyed Naruto just slightly. So he did what he thought was the rational option; he got dressed and went to the Hokage's tower.

Tsunade was reading over a boring piece of paper that Shizune had handed to her when Naruto banged into her office, completely out of breath. Tsunade only had time to look at the panting blond Ninja before he demanded, "Have they left already?"

Tsunade, after taking a minute to realize who Naruto was talking, answered, "Yes, they left just a few a minutes ago. You can't go after them."

Naruto glared at the busty Hokage, "I know that. I just would have liked to see them off is all."

"Why?" Tsunade asked, perplexed as to why Naruto was being so adamant about this

"Because," Naruto with a sigh after a minute, "They're my friends. All I got was this note. It seems too much like a goodbye to me…"

Tsunade, realizing how down Naruto was at the moment, stood up and went over to him. She then gave the blond Ninja a small pat on his head, "Oh, don't worry about those two, they are perfectly capable of handling this mission. You know that don't you?"

Naruto gave a small nod, "Of course I know that. But, it just doesn't feel right to let Kouryu and Sasuke do this alone."

"They won't be alone. We're all here to back them up once those two have led the Akatsuki here."

Naruto felt his mood suddenly lift when Tsunade said that. Suddenly, he had the urge to tease the Hokage, so he said playfully, a sly grin beginning at the corners of his mouth "Baa-chan, since when did you believe in them? You were the one who was against this plan in the first place, no?"

Tsunade gave the blond a look of almost displeasure. She then said manicured eyebrow slightly raised, "I never actually thought it was a bad plan. But, there were things I had to make sure of as the Hokage. I know you trust those two implicitly, but I don't have that luxury. So, I hope you didn't take it as a personal insult, I had my role to play as Hokage."

Naruto was slightly taken aback; he never thought that Tsunade would tell him this. Naruto knew that Tsunade had things that she had to do as Hokage, but his was amazed that she could tell him what she'd just said, he never thought of himself as the Hokage's confidant.

As Naruto was about to thank Tsunade for opening up to him, there was a loud explosion. Naruto and Tsunade turned in the direction of the sound and saw smoke coming from just outside the village. Naruto, mouth agape, said after a shocked moment, "That can't be good." And the two bolted from the room, to see what had caused the explosion.

**And that ends this chapter. I know what you're thinking; I'm really evil. But don't worry, I will be updating in a week. Now that school's started again, I'll get back into the swing of weekly updates ^_^. Well, as always, if you'd like please review, I always love to know what you guys think. Until next week then ^_^**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	20. The Mission Begins with an Explosion

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I bring to you the 19****th**** chapter of this story. It is from Kouryu's perspective of the start of the mission to the mysterious explosion ^_^ I hope you enjoy!**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei**_

Kouryu woke up that morning on the roof, her back giving her small twinges of protest from sleeping on a hard surface. She didn't quite remember falling asleep up there on the roof, but she did remember her conversation with Naruto last night fondly. Despite her blustering to the Hokage, about how this plan of theirs would go fine, she had been more that a little worried about her part until Naruto had talked to her.

But, now was not the time to be thinking about her back or how Naruto was such a good friend. It was now time to concentrate on defeating Madara and Obito. Kouryu got up, prepared to leap off the roof when she heard a slight sound.

Turning toward the sound, ready to jump into attack mode if there was an enemy on the roof with her, almost couldn't stifle a surprised giggle. Near to where Kouryu was sleeping was Naruto, sleeping the most soundly she'd ever seen a person sleep.

Chuckling softly, Kouryu tapped Naruto softly on the shoulder to wake him up so they could say goodbye for the moment. But that didn't work; Naruto just shifted positions and kept snoring away. So, the dragon Jinchuuriki leaned down and said softly, "Naruto-kun, wake up. I'm going to go now."

But the boy's eyes didn't open, and he went on sleeping. But, Kouryu could swear she heard him murmur, "Sakura-chan…you're being so gentle today…"

Eyebrow raised slightly, Kouryu decided not to spend any more time trying to wake up her blond-haired companion. Instead, she picked him up and carried him back to his room. Once she had settled Naruto onto his bed, she quickly wrote a short note and jumped back out the window.

Once the dragon Jinchuuriki was nearing the gates of Konoha, she saw Sasuke leaning nonchalantly against a nearby tree…in fact; Kouryu had the strangest sense that that was the tree that Itachi had tied the angsty Uchiha boy to earlier.

Sasuke, grinning ever so slightly, glanced up as Kouryu neared, "Shall we get this mission over with?"

"Yeah," Kouryu sighed, her previous anxieties come back in full force, "Let's get going."

Sasuke pushed himself off the tree and walked toward Kouryu taking out a rope from some mysterious pocket. Kouryu sighed mentally, even though she knew that this would make it easier for those two to believe that Sasuke was on their side, neither she nor the dragon liked being tied up very much.

Once the rope was securely wound around Kouryu's hands, not too tightly, but enough to give the illusion that Kouryu had been captured by Sasuke, Sasuke said, "I contacted them in the dream world last night like you told me. But I thought you said you'd be there, I didn't."

"I was there," Kouryu stated simply, "I just changed my appearance so that they wouldn't recognize me. I was the dragon statue on top of the house that you went in to talk to them."

Sasuke blinked in sudden understanding, "I remember that. That was pretty clever of you, hiding in plain sight like that."

"Is that a compliment I hear?" Kouryu commented in a mock snide voice

"Nah," Sasuke replied in the same tone, "I'm not like Naruto, when I'm giving you a compliment, you'll know. Now, let's go." Kouryu chuckled in ascension and the two exited the gates of Konoha.

Once the two had walked for a ways and were out of view of the village, all forest noise seemed to still. The two tried not to look at each other, but they were both thinking the same thing; that Obito and Madara were near and that they should stay on their guard.

And soon enough, Obito appeared in front of them, looking a very strange mixture of bored, dour, and expectant. Seeing that Kouryu was tied up, though, shifted the balance of emotions on the Uchiha to more excited than bored or dour.

He then said, a hint of something in his voice that neither Sasuke nor Kouryu could quite place, "I see that you have done your part Sasuke. Good job, come with me, Madara wishes to speak to you."

Sasuke nodded silently, and playing the part of Kouryu's captor very well, pulled on the dragon Jinchuuriki's rope roughly and 'forced' her to walk into Obito and Madara's lodgings. Once there, Sasuke and Kouryu saw Madara sitting on something that looked like a throne, his eyes closed and his body looked to be in some sort of meditative position.

His eyes opened after a moment, and he stared at the two with those unnerving Rinnegan and Sharingan eyes. The look he was giving them made Kouryu wonder if the older ot the three Uchihas was on to their plan.

But if he was, he gave nothing away when he said, "I'm glad you have decided to join us Sasuke."

"Tch," Sasuke made an annoyed sound like his choice was the most obvious in the world, "What else was I going to do. This…thing probed though my memories. And then, even worse, she stole them. My only choice is to help you in revenge for her transgressions."

Kouryu knew Sasuke was just acting, but his words still stung a little. She must have made some face, because Madara seemed to notice it as he said, "I know you'd rather have her killed right now, Sasuke, but I have other plans for her."

"What kind of plans?" Sasuke asked

Before Madara could answer, Obito said, "You only get to learn our plans once we know we can trust you fully."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the scarred Uchiha, "And me bringing the person who ruined your earlier plans isn't proof enough that you can trust me?"

Obito shook his head arrogantly, but before he could spark anymore argument between them, Madara said, "That's enough Obito. We can tell him what we're planning, I doubt that he's going to betray us now that he's come this far."

Obito raised a skeptical eyebrow, but said nothing and let other Uchiha continue speaking, "You see, Sasuke, we need this girl alive for the moment."

"And why is that? Isn't she the one who made you made you botch all your carefully made plans? If it were me, I'd want her out of the way permanently."

"Yes," Madara nodded, "that is originally what we wanted. But then we learned who she really is. What she has inside her. With the power of the ten-tails inside her, we can make the ten-tails whole again."

This wasn't surprising to Kouryu's ears, but she still didn't like what she heard. She really wished she could turn around and see what Sasuke was thinking at the moment, but she knew that would give them away. Just then, the dragon decided to make an appearance in her head, 'Kouryu don't worry, he knows what he'd doing. He'd dealt with Orochimaru before, I'm sure these two are nothing compared to that snake.'

'I don't know about that,' Kouryu thought, 'Obito may just be in this for getting revenge on Kakashi, but Madara seems a lot worse than Orochimaru.'

The dragon seemed to snort at that, but before she could say anything else, Sasuke said, "That makes sense. This ten-tails must be something else if you want to make it even more powerful than it already is."

"Indeed," Madara agreed, "reviving the ancient beast is what we have longed to do for a long time. If we can make it even stronger, it will be that much easier to instigate our plan."

Sasuke's next words were said in the same tone he'd been using earlier, but Kouryu could feel a smirk creeping across his face, "As much as I'd like to agree to your plan, I'm not sure we have the same goals in mind."

"What do you mean by that?" Obito asked, sounding annoyed that Sasuke seemed to be backing out now

"Well you see," Sasuke said with a snarky tone, "I just don't think I can help you. I would prefer to destroy Konoha myself. Your plans just don't mesh with mine."

"If you went along with us," Madara said, trying once again to convince Sasuke, "it would be like you destroyed Konoha yourself. If you willing you went under the Tsuki no Me plan, the world could be whatever you wanted it to be."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "No thanks," he said with a smirk, "I prefer this world the way it is." Kouryu then heard Sasuke take out a Kunai

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Obito said, suspicion filling his voice at the sight of the weapon

"Just this." Sasuke said casually, bringing down the Kunai on Kouryu's bonds. He then threw the Kunai toward Madara and Kouryu could see the paper bomb that was attached to the end of the Kunai. The two then ran out of the building just in time for the explosion to rock the forest.

**And that is the end of this chapter. The next chapter, the gang will join back together to fight Madara and Obito. Not sure how many more chapters there will be after this one, but I think I'm aiming for 25ish. Well that's all for now, so as always if you'd like please leave a review, I love to know what you guys think. 'Til next week then, guys ^_^**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	21. A Trap is Sprung at the Worst Moment

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here's the 20****th**** chapter of this story ^_^ That's all I have to say at the moment, so I hope you enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei!**_

As Kouryu and Sasuke were running in the opposite direction of the explosion they had just caused, they heard a howl of unparalleled rage. The two spared each other a glance, knowing that neither of the Uchihas were dead. It would probably be an understatement to call their mission a complete failure.

And then, Kouryu thought she saw a flash of yellow a little ahead of them, in the forest. But before she could say anything to Sasuke about it, Naruto appeared out of the trees and ran headlong into Sasuke. The only thing suppressing the giggle that was bubbling out of her throat, was the urgency to get out of this forest and back into the semi-safety of the breaking shield of the Jutsu she had cast in Konoha.

But before the Dragon Jinchuuriki could suggest that they run, Sasuke hissed, rubbing his forehead in the process, "What the hell Naruto? Can't you watch where you're going?"

Naruto, rubbing his head vigorously as well, retorted, "I could say the same thing to you, Sasuke-teme! You didn't seem to be watching where you were going either!"

"Yeah," Sasuke deadpanned, "That's because I'm running from two homicidal Ninjas that probably want to kill us."

"Eh?" Naruto looked up at his raven-haired comrade, not quite surprised, but not quite believing what he was saying either, "What happened?"

Sasuke took a breath, but before he could say anything else, Kouryu interrupted them, "I hate to break this up guys, but I think explanations can wait until later. Right now we should—"

"What's your hurry?" all three young Ninja whipped around to see Obito behind them, leaning nonchalantly on a nearby tree, "I think explanations are very much in order. Don't you want to tell us why you have betrayed the Akatsuki, Sasuke?"

An unimpressed eyebrow rose on Sasuke's forehead, "I didn't betray you at all. All I said in the dream world last night was that I would meet you there, not that I would help with your plan."

Obito sighed, "Oh dear, Madara's not going to be very happy with that explanation."

"So?" both Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time

"So you two are in synch now, are you? You two former rivals have become fast friends again. Too bad it won't last."

"And what makes you think that we're friends?" Sasuke asked

"Yeah," Naruto added, "we're only working together because we have a common goal in mind; defeating you!"

Obito sighed again, "Don't you think that three-on-one is a little unfair?"

Kouryu, Naruto, and Sasuke shook their heads. It was Kouryu who responded, though, with a vehement "No. Three on one is probably the most fair it gets when fighting someone like you."

Suddenly Obito pushed himself off the tree and gave the three a smug look, "Well too bad for you, then, it's actually three-on-two."

And then, Madara appeared next to Obito as Tsunade jumped silently next to the three young Ninja. Sasuke and Kouryu looked over at the Hokage in surprise while Naruto asked nonchalantly, "What took you so long, Baa-chan? It doesn't seem like you to get lost."

"I wasn't lost," Tsunade huffed, glaring at Naruto and then at Madara, "I was chasing him. Somehow, after we split up, I saw him fleeing a burning building. I think he let me follow him after that."

Before Naruto could say anything in response, Kouryu interjected, "Hokage-sama, you really shouldn't be here. Let us handle this for now, you go back to the village and gather reinforcements."

Tsunade laughed a sharp, staccato note, "I didn't know you cared that much, dragon girl."

Kouryu blinked in surprise, and it was Sasuke who responded, "I have to agree with Kouryu on this one. The leader of Konohagakure shouldn't be here. These two are very dangerous; it would be bad for the village if you stayed here."

"I'm touched by your concern, you two," Tsunade said dismissively, "But I think I'll be fine. If I'm in any danger, I have three perfectly capable bodyguards."

Kouryu looked away, her face a slight pink in embarrassment, and Sasuke glared at the Hokage. But, before either could say anything in response, Obito said sardonically, "Are you guys through yet? I'd love to stand around and hear you chat, but I think we have a fight to finish. And this time, you're little Jutsu can't get in our way Kouryu."

"That's fine," Kouryu said icily, "I want to finish things too."

"Oh, I'm afraid you won't be participating much in this battle," Madara spoke up, "You're going to be the one who helps us resurrect the Ten-tails."

"Oh yeah," Kouryu responded, "And how are you going to make that happen?"

"Like this." Madara said. Then, a harsh, white light shot up around Kouryu, trapping her in a small cage. When Kouryu tried to push through it, an electrical pulse shot through her body, making her cry aloud. After a moment, of painful silence, Kouryu sat up, breathing heavily.

With a smug look on his face, Obito said, "How do you like you cage, little dragon girl? We picked it out especially for you since you caged our hopes for the altogether too long."

Kouryu glared up at Obito and Madara, her pupils starting to look like a snake's, "When did you come up with this?"

"Since we knew about this meeting yesterday. For the eventuality that you'd either escape or that Sasuke would betray us."

"Then you're pretty good actors," Sasuke commented, "You didn't give anything away at all."

"You're not so bad yourself," Obito retorted with a snort and a smirk, "It's too bad we had to end this charade so soon. I wanted to keep playing with you two a little longer."

"That's enough, Obito," Madara said stonily, "playtime is over. It's time to end this farce once and for all."

"I agree" Kouryu said, her voice thick with anger. Kouryu then turned her eyes to the cage again, in intense concentration, and a stream of icy chakra slammed against the cage, making it glow much brighter than it had started its being.

But when the light dimmed, Kouryu had sunk even further to the ground than she had been already from the electric pulse. With a weak glare, Kouryu asked, "What did you do to this cage?" and her eyes rolled back in her head as she collapsed onto the ground.

With a satisfied smirk, Madara said to the unconscious Kouryu, "I made a trap specifically to absorb the dragon's chakra. I guess you used too much when you tried to bust out. Too bad, but that won't work."

Naruto, staring at the unconscious Kouryu, felt powerless at the moment. He hadn't been able to do anything to save his new found friend, and that made him angrier than angry. His eyes then snapped up to Madara when he said, "Now that your ace is out of commission, I guess you have no choice but to surrender. I doubt that you stand a ghost of a chance of winning now."

Once Madara had finished speaking, Naruto's eyes narrowed into a dark glare. He directed this look at Madara and growled, "Like hell we're giving up. I'm going to end you!"

**And that is the end of this chapter…I still don't' have anything to say…so, I'll see you next week. As always, if you'd like, please review I love to know what you guys think. Until next week then ^_^**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	22. Kurama Finally Makes an Appearance

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I bring to you the 21****st**** chapter of this Naruto story. I think, I am going to try and finish the final battle and anything else in 25-27 chapters. But, more on that later ^_^ I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it's the property of Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

"End me you say?" Madara asked snidely, looking down on Naruto, his eyes alight with an amused glare "How are you going to do that? I've trapped your trump card, so I doubt there's much you can do against us."

"There's plenty we can do," Naruto growled, "we may be down one Sharingan user, but I'm sure Sasuke can take at least one of you out!"

"…Don't you mean 'you can take both of them out', Naruto?" Sasuke asked, feeling insulted that Naruto seemed to doubt his Sharingan's abilities.

"No," Naruto shook his head, no trace of malice in the next words he directed at Sasuke, "I mean one, since Baa-chan and I are going to take out the other one and then save Kouryu!"

"And how do you propose we do that?" Tsunade asked, "It's easier to overpower a Sharingan user with at least two people. Since we're now short one team member, it's going to be much harder."

Before either Sasuke or Naruto could say anything in response or come up with any kind of plan, "Enough talking, now, we fight."

And, all at once, everyone sprang into action. First, as usual for the spikey, blond Ninja, Naruto summoned multiple Kage Bunshin. Then all the Naruto clones charged at the two enemy Uchihas in a large mass. Predictably, the Kage Bunshin attack didn't go very well, as all the Naruto clones were poofed away by both Madara and Obito.

But, Naruto's distraction of the clones gave both Tsunade and Sasuke time to plan their own courses of attack. While Tsunade summoned Katsuyu, her slug companion, Sasuke readied his own Sharingan in the hope that he would be able to trap one of the other two in a Genjutsu.

The real Naruto, meanwhile, was trying to get in communication with the Kyubi. Even though Kouryu's Jutsu was breaking, he still couldn't really talk to Kurama. There were times when they could get in a word to each other. But mostly, Naruto just heard the Jinchuuriki version of radio static. It was very disconcerting. Despite the fact that Naruto knew why Kouryu had cut communications with him and Kurama.

And then, Naruto had a sudden idea. Maybe he couldn't communicate with Kurama, but perhaps he could talk to the dragon through the unconscious Kouryu. Knowing that this new plan was probably more dangerous that not having a plan at all, he yelled to Sasuke and Tsunade, "Baa-chan, Sasuke, I have a plan. I know this might be hard, but can you try to distract those Uchiha jerks for me until I'm ready?"

Naruto's only indication that Tsunade had heard him was a small slug coming over to him and saying in a shy voice, "I know I'm not much Naruto-kun, but I'll try my best to help out with anything you need."

With a grateful grin and nod to the slug familiar, Naruto only hope that this would work and that they'd have their ace back to help them before all the dragon's chakra was taken from her. Sasuke had probably heard him as well, but he didn't send Naruto any signal that he did, so Naruto just had to take it on faith that his old teammate wouldn't botch things up for him.

Naruto then summoned some more Kage Bunshin for backup for Tsunade and Sasuke and then walked over to the cage where Kouryu was. When he got close to the cage, though, his eyes widened in slight shock. Kouryu seemed to paler before his eyes. Her usual blue hair had turned an anemic white, as if the dragon's chakra was what had been sustaining her hair color this whole time.

Worried, Naruto called out softly, "Kouryu, are you alright?"

There was no answer, of course, so Naruto tried something else, "Um, Kouryu's dragon, can you hear me?"

It was like some strange switch turned on inside him, because he finally heard Kurama's voice for the first time in a long time, 'Naruto, I doubt that she can hear you.'

'And why is that?' Naruto thought irritably, annoyed that his first chat with Kurama in a long time was him criticizing him.

'Because,' Kurama said, 'the Jinchuuriki is unconscious, so the Bijuu can't hear you.'

'So, what should we do then, Kurama?'

'Not sure,' the fox demon seemed to shrug, 'maybe I can try to talk to the dragon directly from the Bijuu space.'

'The Bijuu what?' Naruto thought, perplexed now, he'd never heard of this so called "Bijuu space" before.

'Ah, that's right,' Kurama said, 'we hadn't gotten to the part of how the Bijuu can communicate with each other yet, had we? I guess those are the problems of telling someone our history when fighting a life changing battle…'

'Well, are you going to tell me what it is or not?' Naruto interrupted, annoyed that the Kyubi was going on and on without revealing anything

With an annoyed sigh, Kurama said, 'Oh, don't be so impatient. I was getting to that. The Bijuu space is the space between this world and the dream world where we tailed-beasts can talk to each other. If you'd like, I can see if I can talk to your dragon friend there.'

'Yeah, that'd be a good idea,' Naruto thought, 'while you're doing that, I'll try and find a way to break this cage.'

'Be careful Naruto,' Kurama said after a moment, 'that cage is meant to suck out the ten-tail's chakra. That means, if you try to use mine, you'll probably end up like her. In fact, it might be easier if you try to find a way to break the cage without using Chakra at all.'

Naruto agreed with a short nod. And then, Kurama seemed to leave Naruto's mind, making Naruto feel very alone. Even though Kurama hadn't been talking to him for a while, he still missed the fox demon's presence now that he was gone. With a sigh, Naruto began analyzing the cage that Kouryu had been trapped in moments before.

As he walked around the cage, he noticed that it seemed that physically attacking it would do them no good. The thing seemed to be made out of pure light, that would shock you if you got touched it. With a sigh, thinking that it was hopeless to do anything about this stupid cage himself, Naruto waited for Kurama to come back.

After a few agonizingly long minutes, he finally felt Kurama's presence come back into his mind. 'So, what did the dragon say?' Naruto asked, when the fox demon didn't relay anything right away

There was a pause and then Kurama said slowly, choosing his words carefully for a change, 'I guess I have good news.'

'What is it?' Naruto almost shouted aloud

'Well,' Kurama started, 'the dragon seems to know how to possess Kouryu's body when she is unconscious and she seems to know how to bust out of the cage.'

'I think that's the best news I've heard all day! So, how do we do it?'

'That seems to be the tricky part,' Kurama started, 'it seems that we have to overload the cage with ten-tail's chakra to make it explode.'

'I don't see what the problem is. We just have to blast it like we usually do!' Naruto said with a confidence that he was just beginning to get back

With a sigh, Kurama began to debunk Naruto's plan of blasting the crate into oblivion, 'It would be nice if it was that easy. But, if we're not careful, our Chakra could be sucked out of us as well and we could end up like your friend, unconscious and no able to help anyone.'

Before Naruto could say anything else, Kouryu's dragon's voice said from inside the cage, "And that's where I come in. You see, we're going to attack this cage from both inside and out. I think that it's meant to absorb only so much Chakra."

"Yeah Kurama, you see, this'll work! There's nothing to worry about!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." The dragon said with an almost nonchalant air, "if I'm wrong, we'll both be put out of commission. If that happens, the ten-tails will be revived and you and your friends won't stand a chance.

Naruto, not really feeling like complaining about this anymore powered up into his super Kyubi mode and said with a conviction that he wasn't sure he had, "Let's do this!"

"Yes," the dragon agreed with a nod, air growing colder as she stood up, "Let's break this cage."

Naruto and the dragon then began to focus their Chakra onto the cage, Naruto's was a stream of angry red and the dragon's was an icy blast of very light blue. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then, the cage seemed to be growing brighter and brighter. Soon, it was too bright for wither Jinchuuriki to look at any longer.

And when both Naruto and the dragon closed their eyes as the cage reached its brightest, they both heard what sounded like metal screeching in protest. When the screeching grew to be almost too unbearable for either, the cage exploded.

**And that is the end of that. I hope y'all enjoyed ^_^ as I said earlier, I think I'm going to make this story 25-27 chapters just so I can wrap everything up…um…I guess that's all I wanted you guys to know…well anyway, if you'd like please review, I love to know what you guys think. Until next week then ^_^**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	23. Kouryu and Kakashi Rejoin the Fight

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here's the 22****nd**** chapter…um…I have nothing else that I feel like reporting at the moment. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter…yeah, I think that's it for the moment.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

Once the light finally faded, Naruto opened his eyes with a cautious blink. He was happy to see Kouryu out of the cage, but majorly worried at how she was slumped on the ground, not moving much at all. So, with a worried whisper Naruto asked the small slug familiar to go help Kouryu out.

Katsuyu somehow managed to nod and she slunk off Naruto's shoulder and over to Kouryu's. As Katsuyu began to glow softly on Kouryu, Naruto was relieved to see the color going back into hair and her chest start to rise and fall again.

After another few moments, Kouryu's eyes opened again, and this time they were their normal blue, meaning that she wasn't possessed by the dragon anymore at the moment. With a great sigh of relief, Naruto was almost too preoccupied with his allayed thoughts that he almost didn't hear Kouryu ask, "So, what happened while I was out?"

Blinking, Naruto brought himself back into what was actually happening at the moment and answered, "Well, let's just say that we're having a hard time fighting those Uchiha jerks without you. I mean, Sasuke and Baa-chan are probably doing ok on their own, but it'd be much easier with you helping us."

With her characteristic smile, Kouryu nodded in agreement, "Yes, I think it's high time we ended this fight. Let's show them what Jinchuuriki can really do."

With a nod from Naruto, the nine-tailed fox Jinchuuriki helped the dragon Jinchuuriki stand up. The two then went over to join Sasuke and Tsunade in the battle. As they were about to start fighting, though, a voice somewhere behind them made them both turn around, "So, you guys are going to leave me out of the party, huh? That's not very nice."

Naruto, breaking out into a large grin, whispered enthusiastically, "Sensei, you're here!"

"So, you're the backup Tsunade was talking about. Took you long enough. What were you doing? Helping some old lady across the street?" Kouryu said, more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Who could blame her though; she had been trapped in a chakra draining cage for some time.

Ignoring Kouryu just slightly, Kakashi said, "I just had to go get something. It took me a while because he Hokage wasn't very clear about where she put what I was supposed to be looking for."

"What were you looking for?" Naruto asked

Kakashi winked at him and said, "Let's keep that a secret for now, shall we? Don't want to tip off the enemies after all." With a chuckle and a nod, the three headed into the battle zone.

* * *

Sasuke groaned in frustration, somehow he had ended up fighting against Obito. At first, being the prideful guy he is, Sasuke figured that he would be able to beat the space warping Uchiha easily. But, that was proving to be way more difficult than he had originally thought.

Every time Sasuke would attack, Obito, predictably, send his attack into whatever other dimension he sent it to. But the really frustrating part was that Sasuke never seemed to be able to land any other attacks in the time between when the other Uchiha could use his space warping Sharingan.

Just as Sasuke was beginning to tire, he heard a familiar voice say, "Need some help there, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in slight annoyance as he turned to his former teacher, "No, I'm doing perfectly fine. Why don't you go help Naruto?"

Kakashi shrugged and smirked, though the smirk didn't quite meet his eyes, "I was banned from fighting Madara. Naruto said something about how I should try to talk some sense into my old comrade. I highly that that's going to happen, but might as well give it a try for Naruto."

Sasuke snorted, "Yeah that sounds like something that idiotic blond would say…'

Sasuke was then interrupted by Obito, who growled loudly, "I am so sick and tired of you people talking during a fight. Why can't you ever pay attention to the most important thing going on at the moment?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and addressed Obito, "Is that really something you should be saying? If I remember correctly, you're the one who used to talk the most of all of us back then."

Uncharacteristically, Obito's cheeks brightened to a bright pink, and the scarred man barked defensively, "That was a long time ago! Don't bring up the past."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, "Oh, get over yourself Obito, do you think you're the only one who's faced hard times?"

"Huh?" both Sasuke and Obito said, Sasuke slightly confused because he'd never heard his teacher talk this much, and Obito very perplexed because he never knew his former comrade was actually capable of yelling at people.

Kakashi then gave Obito a hard stare, "You think I didn't regret killing Rin? I had no choice…"

"What do you mean, you had no choice?" Obito yelled, "You could have found a way to break the Jutsu that was controlling her without killing her. Or better yet, you could have let yourself be killed by her."

Kakashi sighed, "And then you would be going after her instead of me. Is that what you want? To fight the girl you were in love with?"

Obito glared at Kakashi, "That wouldn't have happened and you know it! She would have found a way to save you if your positions had been reversed."

Kakashi shook his head, his eyes growing slightly misty in remembrance of how his other former comrade died (And has not, to my knowledge, decided to come back to life like all the other dead guys in Naruto).

Obito, though, looked like he'd had enough of Kakashi, and was about to say something else when Sasuke, not really liking being ignored anymore, said, "I see what you meant about talking too much, Kakashi. Your comrade really seems to like the sound of his own voice. Reminds me of a certain blond we both know."

Kakashi chuckled lightly, "Indeed he does Sasuke, indeed he does." He then turned to Obito and said, his tone turning more serious, "Sasuke's right, though, it is time we settle things once and for all."

Obito then smirked at Kakashi, "Settle things? I guess your idea of a fair fight is two against one?"

Kakashi shrugged then, "I don't know if fair is the right word. But, we're Ninja, the concept of fairness is all but lost on us."

"How true," Obito agreed with another smirk, "but then again, nothing about the Sharingan is fair is it? I guess two-on-one are perfectly fine odds with me."

And suddenly the battle began with a flurry of motion, Kunai, and fireballs. And then, just as suddenly, it seemed to stop. All three opponents were standing still, frozen in their spots. Someone, it wasn't quite apparent who yet, had managed to cast a Genjutsu that had hit the other two.

The stillness of this mind battle seemed to drag on for a long time. And, compared to the battle with Madara, was pretty boring. Then, as if the 'play' button had been pressed on a remote control, Sasuke unfroze, breathing hard.

Looking around at Obito and Kakashi, he hoped that Kakashi would be the one to come out of the Genjutsu next. He hadn't been the one to cast it, but he had managed to manipulate it. And then, the other two seemed to unfreeze at the same time, making Sasuke's heart sink. His plan had failed.

**And that is the end of this chapter. That got a little confusing, didn't it…well sorry, that's how Genjutsu are. All will (probably) be explained next chapter. Or next chapter will be Madara and the other's battle. I'm not quite sure yet. Well, see y'all next week then! As always, if you'd like please review, I love to know what you guys think.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	24. TheObito-Kakashi-Sasuke Battle Concludes

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I bring to y'all the 23****rd**** chapter of this story. And, without anything else to say at the moment, I hope you guys enjoy ^_^**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

Sasuke, groaning internally, watched his former teacher and his teacher's former comrade resume fighting in the real world. Sasuke had hoped that he could end this fight faster. Because, as much as he loved a good fight, fighting Obito seemed to be going nowhere fast. The whole sending attacks to another dimension was by far one of the most annoying moves he'd ever faced before.

At least, though, Kakashi was the only other person who had this ability. But, that was the obvious conclusion since Obito was the one who donated his eye to Kakashi after he was crushed by a rock. It made Sasuke wonder how the man had survived. If the raven haired boy had to hazard a guess, he'd say that Obito's Sharingan activated when (according to the story Kakashi had once told the former team 7) the cave he, Obito, and Rin had been in collapsed.

Sasuke shook his head then, breaking out of his thoughts, now really wasn't the time to be thinking about trivial things such as how Obito's Sharingan worked. So, with another shake of his head, the raven haired boy mentally joined the fight against Obito again. This time, almost no words were shared between the two former comrades.

Instead, Kakashi and Obito were taking turns attempting turns blasting each other with a Jutsu and then absorbing it with their magical Sharingans that sent attacks (and people, and arms if you're lucky enough to be Deidara) into who-knows-where (and most likely destroying a whole bunch of trees, because that's what the Naruto Ninjas are; tree killers).

As Sasuke watched the two fighting each other in an increasingly pointless battle of chakra draining, Sasuke got an idea. Assuming that Obito's core personality hadn't changed too much from the time he was friends with Kakashi (read: something like Naruto, except slightly wimpier until he gets his Sharingan), Sasuke thought that maybe he could coax the scarred Uchiha into performing an all-out attack of rage in annoyance at Sasuke's prodding.

So Sasuke, going through his mental catalogue of ways to annoy Naruto, found something that was sure to work on this guy as well. But before he would be able to put this plan into action, he'd need Kakashi's cooperation. And for that, he'd actually need to contact Kakashi, which seemed easier said than done as the grey-haired man was very intent on fighting Obito at the moment.

Of course, Sasuke walking up to Kakashi and telling him his plan could have worked. But that ran the risk of either Obito learning his plan or Obito killing Kakashi while he was distracted. So, Sasuke decided that he would just have to start his prodding of the unstable looking Obito and hope that Kakashi caught the hint.

There was only one problem, though; Sasuke wasn't quite sure how to make this guy angry enough at him. Sure, his plan that he came up from his "ways to annoy Naruto catalogue" might work on Obito as well since they were so similar (again, according to Kakashi), but Sasuke didn't actually know that Obito would take the bait.

Not really wanting to think about this any longer, Sasuke yelled out, hoping that it would catch both Obito's and Kakashi's attention, "Oi, Obito, I wonder what that girl you liked would think if she saw you now?"

It was a stretch and Sasuke knew it. For one, he didn't even remember the girl's name (it's not like it was anything important to the Sasuke who was listening to his teacher's story). And, for two, it seemed really out of character (even by Sasuke's standards) for him to be yelling about some girl.

But for some reason, Sasuke's yelling worked and both Kakashi and Obito stopped fighting to face Sasuke. Kakashi, looking at Sasuke like he was the weirdest person ever, seemed to want to say something. But Sasuke's returning look that said, 'just go along with it for now', silenced the grey-haired man, so he stayed silent with an eyebrow raised in skepticism.

Obito, on the other hand, looked confused. After a minute he asked, "How would you know anything about Rin?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "How do you think? Sensei told us the story of how you guys became friends. So of course, we learned about Rin too. From what I heard, she sounds pretty wimpy."

Kakashi, eyes narrowed into a malevolent glare that Sasuke would dare insult Rin, looked at his former pupil with anger and confusion. But after a moment, a light seemed to go off in his head and a slight smirk appeared on his face, making Sasuke sigh in quiet relief; Kakashi understood his plan after all.

Obito, whose eyes had also narrowed into a malevolent glare leveled at Sasuke, hadn't caught on to Sasuke's plan yet (or Kakashi's smirk), growled, "How dare you say that Rin was wimpy! You don't even know her!"

"But I do," Kakashi interjected, before Sasuke could say anything else, "and looking back on it, she was a little useless. I mean, her healing abilities were the best thing about her."

Sasuke nodded in agreement, "That sounds a lot like Sakura…I wonder, Sensei, are there any other similarities?"

Kakashi, subtly rolling his eyes, pretended to think about what Sasuke had asked him. After another moment, he said, "Oh yes, that's right. Both Rin and Sakura are in love with the geniuses of their teams. Namely, Me and you Sasuke."

Sasuke winced slightly at that, he'd always known that Sakura had a (very obvious) crush on him, but to hear his former teacher mention it was kinda a punch in the gut, reminding him that when leaving for Orochimaru, he had knocked out the hysterical Sakura and left her on a bench.

Suddenly brought of his thoughts, Sasuke heard Obito growl louder, "So you knew she liked you, Kakashi? Then why didn't you say anything instead of just ignoring her unless you needed her help?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I was young, we were in the middle of a war, I didn't have time for feelings, unlike you."

Obito, turning red with anger, yelled, "What the hell would you know about that? It's not like you watched her pine over you while ignoring the person who would actually like her."

"Well, you didn't have to be pined over by someone who you will only see as a teammate."

Sasuke blinked, he hadn't actually meant for this conversation to be so long. But the longer the two argued over Rin, the more Sasuke could see him and Naruto having this conversation about Sakura (although, Sakura was no longer the smart, albeit slightly useless in a fight Ninja she used to be).

Sasuke, no longer needing to do anything, watched as he and Kakashi argued. Sasuke was pretty sure that Kakashi was just saying things to make Obito mad, because as he said them there was no emotion in his eyes. But, that didn't seem to matter to Obito because the man was getting angrier and angrier.

Soon, their argument seemed to reach a boiling point and Obito finally just flat out yelled, "You're still the same bratty child you were back then! How could you even say that about your former comrade?"

Before Kakashi could even answer, though, Obito began charging up large amounts of Chakra, in what Sasuke hoped was a last ditch effort to take both him and Kakashi out while, at the same time, making Obito use up the rest of his chakra.

After what seemed like forever, Obito finished powering up (and Kakashi and Sasuke just stood and watched, because that's what Naruto characters do, they let their enemies power up), Obito's cheeks puffed out and he spat a large fireball, the hallmark technique of the Uchihas, Katon Gou Kakyuu no Jutsu.

As the fireball hurtled toward Kakashi and Sasuke, Sasuke decided that it would be a good idea just to get out of the way and let his former teacher handle this part of the fight. And Kakashi, predictably, sent the giant fireball to some other dimension with his Sharingan.

Then, before Obito could do anything else (just in case that last Jutsu hadn't drained him of the last of his Chakra), Kakashi weaved some hand-signs and slapped his hands to the ground, making a watery sphere pop up out of nowhere and trap Obito.

Once it was pretty clear that Obito wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, Kakashi sighed and walked over to him. With an emotionless tone, Kakashi said, "Sorry, I'm going to leave you here for a while. When this is all over we can talk, I'll explain to you what really happened the day Rin died by my hand."

Obito, looking stricken, started yelling bloody murder about how when he got out of his watery prison, Kakashi would regret it deeply. But, the grey-haired man, pretending to ignore the scarred Uchiha turned to Sasuke and said his voice weary, "Let's go help the others now."

**And that is the end of this chapter. See, I resolved the fight with Obito just like I promised. I really think I need to watching weird videos on YouTube as I write this story, strange things tend to happen when I do…So, next week, will start the real final battle with Madara (and probably Obito as well, but I'm not sure yet). So, anyway, see you guys next week then. As always, if you'd like please review I love to know what you guys think.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	25. The Death of a Comrade

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here is the 24****th**** chapter of this story, yay! I know that it's a week and a day late, but I've been on spring break, so keeping up my usual schedule was hard for me. Also, last Friday, I wrote a oneshot about Naoki Urasawa's Monster. If you want to go read that, I'd be happy ^_^ well anyway, here's the chapter, I hope you enjoy.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

Kouryu, Naruto and Tsunade were growing tired of fighting Madara. Even three-on-one, the older Uchiha was more than a match for the three other Ninja. Even with Kouryu dispelling any Genjutsu that Madara tried to send upon the three, Naruto could tell that she was beginning to tire; even with the dragon's chakra coursing through the girl's chakra networks.

But Madara, on the other hand, didn't seem to be tiring at all. If anything, as the battle got longer Madara seemed to be getting stronger (but that was probably just because the other three were tiring). Since the sounds from Kakashi's, Sasuke's, and Obito's battle had died down, Naruto was beginning to wonder what was taking the other two so long to join this battle.

Unfortunately, Naruto's Kage Bunshin were little help against Uchiha Madara. Probably because Madara was a Sharingan user, he could see that any clone Naruto tried to use to sneak up on him was both not the real Naruto and a decoy for the real Naruto to sneak up on Madara and punch him out. With Naruto's Kage Bunshin rendered pretty much useless, Naruto felt pretty much powerless in this battle, even though he and Kouryu were probably the two Ninja who really stood a chance against Madara in this fight.

And then something seemed to change. Naruto summoned a shadow clone just to see if this strategy would work this time (even though it hadn't been working before) and it for some reason the shadow clone actually managed to land a punch on Madara before the Uchiha turned around and poofed the Kage Bunshin away with a punch of his own. Naruto shared a quick glance with Kouryu, who seemed to be just as confused as to how the shadow clone actually got an attack in on the Uchiha.

Soon after the look, the information that the Kage Bunshin could share with Naruto once it disappeared came into Naruto's head. Apparently, despite the combination of Sharingan and Rinnegan being probably the most powerful ocular Jutsu combination out there, there was a small blind spot that the clone somehow managed to find.

Naruto, through the Kurama, told Kouryu about this blind spot (the two imagined that Madara probably wouldn't be able to figure out their plans if they talked through their Bijuus in Bijuu space). Kouryu seemed to think that there might be a way to manipulate this blind spot to their advantage, but until she (or he) could come up with a solid plan, Naruto should probably just keep using the occasional shadow clone to see if there were any other blind spots.

And so that's what Naruto did, he summoned a whole bunch of Kage Bunshin to see if Uchiha Madara had any other blind spots. Sure Kouryu had said to make the occasional shadow clone, but doing anything half way was just not Naruto's style. If he was going to look for a blind spot, he may as well really look for it. As the various shadow clones tried to attack Madara, he could almost hear the dragon laughing heartily at Naruto's antics. He also heard Tsunade groan just a little. Then yelled to him, "Naruto, don't waste your chakra, the shadow clones didn't work before, so why would you think they would work now?"

Naruto, slightly annoyed that Tsunade-baa-chan thought he was just wasting chakra, told the Hokage, through Katsuyu the slug, that Madara had a blind spot and that by summoning all the shadow clones he was trying to see if Madara had any other weaknesses.

Tsunade, understanding what Naruto was trying to do now, seemed to think that his plan wasn't as bad as she had originally thought. And then, somehow Tsunade was distracted by what Naruto said to her earlier or she was looking for another blind spot herself and she was nailed by a Jutsu that Naruto didn't see and Kouryu didn't have time to deflect.

With open mouthed, wide eyed, horror, Naruto watched as Tsunade fell onto the ground with a hard, painful sounding thud. Naruto, chakra growing red as he let Kurama feed his rage, turned toward Madara, a feral growl on his lips. Other Naruto clones seemed to be influenced by Naruto's rage as well and were also turning into mini Kyubis as well.

Then, all the red Naruto clones and Naruto himself lunged at Madara, fangs bared and chakra claws extended. But as the clone Narutos smashed into Madara, Naruto felt himself being pulled to the ground. He looked up, angry tears seeping from his eyes, to see Kouryu, shaking her head sadly.

Just then, Kakashi and Sasuke arrived in time to see the clone Narutos attempt to rip Madara's throat out, but fail and explode into a cloud of red, bubbly chakra. Kakashi, slightly confused, asked, "What happened?"

Naruto, voice chocked and cracking, growled, "Madara killed her before my eyes…and I couldn't do anything about it…!"

Kakashi, looking even more confused, turned to Kouryu, but before he could ask anything, Kouryu turned and pointed to the point where Tsunade had fallen. But it wasn't Kakashi who seemed upset by who was there, but Sasuke seemed to go rigid. After a minute, he whispered, "Nii-san…"

Naruto, blinking in confusion, turned back to Kouryu, the question plain in his eyes, "Where's Tsunade-baa-chan?"

"Back in Konoha."

"What?" Naruto asked in confusion, "But, she left the village with me this morning, how could she be back in Konoha?"

"Because I had the Uchiha Itachi Genjutsu I created turn into Tsunade that morning so in the case that things went south, Tsunade wouldn't be in any danger."

Naruto, sighing in sort of relief, turned to see Sasuke and the Genjutsu version of his brother saying almost silent last words to each other. Itachi, though Naruto couldn't really see his face, sounded apologetic, "I'm sorry Sasuke, I know I'm not your real brother…I'm sorry he couldn't be here…"

"Shut up," Sasuke growled, "you may not be my real Nii-san, but losing you again is…hard."

Smiling slightly, Itachi said, "Thank you Sasuke. I think, though, that this will be the last time we meet like this." And he faded away, some sort of energy flowing from the place where Itachi was into Kouryu, making her hair a darker hue than it was before.

Interrupting Sasuke's slight mourning, Madara said, "Are you done yet? I didn't kill your Hokage, so I don't see what the big deal is. Obito was right, you people talk too much."

Kouryu stood up then and glared at Madara, "If it's a fight you want Madara, it's a fight you'll get. With my full powers back, the four of us should be more than a match for you."

**And that is the end of that chapter. Yep, so next week I will get back to my regular update schedule. So, yeah, I don't really have anything else to say this time. As always, if you'd like please leave a review, I love to know what you guys think. Until next Friday then, guys.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	26. Another Trap is Sprung

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I present to you the 25****th**** chapter of this story. Sorry that it's a little shorter than my other chapters, I really just couldn't find the inspiration to write. I guess that's because I restarted Pokemon Soul Silver, and that has taken up a lot of my free time. So anyway, here's this week's shorter that usual chapter.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

"Huh?" Naruto and Sasuke said together, "You weren't at full power before?"

"No," Kouryu said, shaking her head slightly still glaring at Uchiha Madara, "I lent some of my power to the Genjutsu version of Itachi so he would be able to monitor Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito.

"Hm," Kakashi said reflexively, "that makes a certain amount of sense. With some of your power in your Genjutsu of Uchiha Itachi you could both spy on the enemy and have an ace in the hole if the need arose."

"Oh yes," Madara responded sardonically, "your little brat of a comrade just radiates intelligence. But if you wouldn't mind, could we please continue this fight? I have a world to put under an eternal Genjutsu."

"I don't think so!" Naruto said standing up to join Kouryu. The two nodded toward each other and then cloaked themselves in their Bujuu modes and charged at Madara. Kakashi and Sasuke meanwhile, backed the two Jinchuurikis up, deflecting any Genjutsu they noticed and flinging anything they could think of back at the older Uchiha.

And the five seemed to be at a stalemate. Even with the two Sharingan users (three technically, if you count Kouryu's Aojaringan as well), fighting against Madara seemed to be going nowhere fast. The older Uchiha, despite having been in an underground place (it's not explained very well in the translations of the manga is it), he seemed to be in full command of both his Sharingan powers and the powers of his Rinnegan as will, which made any sort of attack against him all but useless.

Even in full Bijuu mode, Kouryu and Naruto could barely get close enough to attack. Despite having Chakra 'limbs' that could extend as far as necessary, they could somehow never get close enough to Madara to do any sort of damage.

It was almost like the older Uchiha as testing the two Bijuu, though, as the man didn't seem to be trying hard at all. The older Uchiha would, at times, lazily flick his fan-like thing toward the group, causing them to scatter or send Genjutsu their was, but it seemed halfhearted; like Uchiha Madara was just waiting for something to happen.

And then, suddenly, what the older Uchiha seemed to have been waiting for happened. Kouryu somehow managed to get close enough to Uchiha Madara to send an icy spear flying at him. As soon as Kouryu managed to make the shot, though, wood seemed to erupt all around her, trapping her in a cage.

Naruto and Kakashi, unfortunately, recognized the wood as Yamato's wood Jutsu, or Hashirama Senju's wood Jutsu to be overly precise. As Kouryu struggled to get out of the Bijuu-chakra eating cage, Madara melted the ice spear that Kouryu had shot at him, like it was nothing more harmless than a drop of water from a tree.

But as the first ice spear melted away, a second one pierced Madara in the head. Kouryu, a grim scowl forming on her lips said, "I told you Madara, now that I have all my power, you can't trap me anymore."

Madara chuckled darkly as his features became featureless and wooden. The older Uchiha's voice then came from somewhere behind them, "And who said I was going after you, little ice-dragon girl? My target has, from the beginning, been Uzumaki Naruto."

Suddenly, wooden tendrils started creeping toward Naruto, who was trying to locate where exactly Madara had gone. Kouryu shouted at Naruto to look out and Naruto managed to barely escape the steadily faster moving roots.

Naruto then managed to escape from another set of restraining roots that Madara had sent after him by using his Bijuu mode's extendable chakra limbs to help him change direction in mid-air. But as he was about to turn to give Madara some snide taunt about bad his aim was he heard a small sound that made his heart sink.

Naruto then saw the cage that Madara had erected earlier start to sink into the ground with Kouryu in it. Kouryu, though, didn't seem to be struggling as Naruto thought she would. And then Naruto saw that she couldn't actually struggle against her captor, because Madara had made the wooden chakra beams bind her hands, legs, and mouth so she couldn't preform any Jutsu.

As the cage sank deeper into the ground, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi heard Madara chuckle again and say, "Though I would have preferred the Kyubi brat, she will serve my purposes just as well. Hope you all enjoy eternal Genjutsu."

And then the cage and Madara were gone, leaving Naruto feeling powerless again. He had had it, though, and he was not going to let Madara get away with anymore of his crap. As soon as Naruto was on the ground again, he turned to Kakashi and yelled, "We have to go save her! Who knows what that Uchiha-jerk is going to do!"

Kakashi nodded in agreement, "I think I know just the person who can lead us to him."

**And that is the end of this chapter. Again, sorry that it's shorter than usual. I really just couldn't summon up the inspirataion to make this chapter any longer. Next week, though, I will hopefull be able to get back to my normal chapter length for this story (and maybe, if I feel like it, even a little longer). As always, if you'd like please review I love to know what you guys think. Until next week then.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	27. A Shaky Alliance and a Conversation

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. I present to you the longer 26****th**** chapter. Well, that's all I have to say at this time, so I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei.**_

"You want me to what?" Obito asked sarcastically, glowering at Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke from his watery prison.

Kakashi sighed, not really wanting to repeat himself, so Sasuke said in his place, "We want you to lead us to where Uchiha Madara is so that we can stop him and rescue Rinrin Kouryu."

Eyebrow raised, Obito scoffed, "I know, I heard you. But why in the world would I help you find my partner? I'm no snitch."

"But if you don't help us, you'll be trapped in that eternal Genjutsu or whatever as well, no?" Naruto said, sounding slightly desperate

"And besides," Obito continued, ignoring Naruto, "Why would I even want to help you Kakashi? Have you forgotten how much I hate you? I will never forgive you for killing Rin the way you did."

Kakashi sighed, "I didn't want to kill her. If I'd had the chance, then I wouldn't have."

"Oh? So you're saying that you had no choice in the matter? You saying that your life is more important than Rin's? That's rather arrogant of you Kakashi." Obito interrupted

"No," Kakashi shook his head sadly, wishing he could get through to the angry Uchiha, "I'm not saying that at all. In fact, if I could go back, I would trade my life for hers any day."

"Then why don't you kill yourself in repentance?" Obito asked

Kakashi sighed once again and then undid the water prison Jutsu. Obito, stunned, stared at Kakashi with extreme suspicion. Kakashi, eyes devoid of any emotion, went up to Obito and punched him hard in the face. Obito, eyes wide in surprise, stumbled and fell onto the ground.

When he got up a second later, he glared at Kakashi, "I see your position now. You don't really regret killing Rin at all, do you?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes and looked like he was about to punch Obito again. Instead, though, he said, "I regret what happened to Rin ever since the day it happened. I learned from you that not looking after you comrades makes you more than scum."

"Yeah, so?" Obito growled, "You are scum. You killed Rin. If killing a comrade isn't scum, then I don't know what is."

"As I said before, if Rin had been the one alive here at the moment, you would be having this conversation with her."

"No I would not," Obito said with conviction, "Because Rin would have found a way to save you had you been in her place."

"And how do you know that?" Kakashi asked

"Because…" Obito started

Kakashi not waiting for Obito to continue said, "We had the same level of training. Also, Rin didn't have a Sharingan, so how would she have dispelled any Genjutsu cast on me or her?"

Obito glared at Kakashi again, eyes blazing with hate, "Well you did have a Sharingan, so why didn't you dispel whatever Genjutsu was placed on her?"

"Because, as I said, she didn't have a Sharingan to dispel a Genjutsu."

"What does that mean?"

Kakashi gave Obito a look, "You really can't guess by now?"

Obito's eyes narrowed in angry confusion and then widened in sudden realization, "You mean you…?"

Kakashi nodded slowly, "Yes, that's right. I was the one being controlled by the enemy and my Sharingan wasn't exactly advanced enough to ward the Jutsu off…"

Obito looked at Kakashi in stunned silence, thinking back on some memory. Obito blinked once, opened his mouth, closed his mouth again, and then shook his head, whispering hoarsely, "That…can't be true…I saw…"

Sasuke groaned, "Are you going to help us or not?"

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "as much as I'd love to see you two getting along again, Kouryu's who knows where getting tortured by that bastard Madara!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes and Obito turned to glare at Naruto. But for a while, the younger Uchiha said, "Fine, I'll help you. But don't expect me to help you out once we get there. As soon as I'm back with Madara, I'm back to being your enemy."

"Oh really?" Sasuke asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "and how exactly are you going to explain how we got there to your pal, Madara?"

Obito shrugged, "I'll just say that you three followed me somehow when I escaped from the water prison Kakashi put me in."

"I bet your boss is really going buy that." Sasuke responded

Obito shrugged again, "Probably not. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Enough dawdling," Naruto cut in, "we have to go help Kouryu!" Kakashi and Sasuke nodded in agreement and then Kakashi helped Obito up off the ground and the four started walking to Madara's hideout, Obito taking the lead.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere underground, Kouryu was banging against the bars of her wooden cage yelling, "Let me out, Madara!"

"I think not, my dear." Madara drawled, "I have some use for you yet."

"Oh yeah?" Kouryu growled, "and what would that use be?"

Madara snorted, "You should be able to guess what that reason is."

Kouryu's glare intensified, "Yeah, you captured me here so that you could lure Naruto-kun down here didn't you?"

Madara shook his head slightly, "Actually, I didn't bring you here so that your little blond friend and his entourage would come and rescue you."

At Kouryu's confused look, Madara smirked and started explaining, since Kouryu had guessed incorrectly, "The fact that your Bijuu has the power of all the Bijuu means that I will be able to extract as much power as I want to resurrect the ten-tails and proceed with my plan."

"I'm afraid that your plan isn't going to work." Kouryu said blandly, sitting back in her cage, no longer putting up a fight to get out as she had been earlier."

"And why would that be, you insolent little girl?"

"Because," Kouryu said, a smirk forming on her lips, "my friends are going to come and stop you."

"I highly doubt that." Madara said with a smirk of his own, "They don't know where this place is. And finding the entrance is near impossible."

"Perhaps," Kouryu shrugged, "but maybe your friend Obito is leading them here at this very moment."

"No," Madara scoffed, "Obito hates Kakashi, he'd never help him."

"You're probably right," Kouryu shrugged again, "but maybe Obito had a change of heart or my friends are following him without his knowing."

"Oh I'm sure," Madara scoffed again, "that Obito is leading those three straight to this place so that they can watch, helpless, as our plan finally comes to fruition."

"But wouldn't you want to make sure that Obito isn't betraying you? If I were you, I'd go check."

Madara looked at Kouryu like she was crazy, but, at the same, time seemed to be thinking about what she had just said. Kouryu knew what she said to the older Uchiha wouldn't make him want to go check if Obito had, in fact, decided to betray him to Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke, she hoped that maybe she had planted enough doubt in him to make him want to be absolutely sure.

For some reason, Madara seemed to take to heart what Kouryu had just said when he mused, "perhaps you are right. Obito does not seem to be the most loyal of henchmen. Maybe I should go check on him."

Kouryu shrugged disinterestedly, "It's up to you Uchiha Madara. I know nothing about your comrade. But if you think that he might actually betray you, then you should go make sure."

Madara chuckled humorlessly, "And what will you do while I 'go make sure'? Escape?"

Kouryu shook her head with fake innocence, "I wouldn't dream of doing that. You know what Mokuton Chakra does to Bijuu chakra. If I were to try and escape, I would become powerless to make any move against you."

"Sure," Madara said with a smile on his lips, "And I'm just going to leave you here alone to plan your not escape."

"That works for me." Kouryu said with a smile, "being alone is much better than having to associate with someone like you who just can't get over the fact that his clan wasn't trusted enough after the first Shinobi war."

"You know nothing about that war. You know nothing about the sacrifices I made."

"No? I know more than you think." The dragon girl said, her smile growing coy

Madara looked like he wanted to say more but instead he just shrugged and summoned a shadow clone, "It matters not what you know about my past. And I won't goad you into giving your friends time to get here, if that is what they're doing."

Ending the conversation right then, Madara left his secret base with Kouryu and Madara's shadow clone staring at each other down malevolently. Kouryu looked especially angry as she thought, 'damn, I think I've made things worse for Naruto and the others.'

'Then why did you provoke Madara like you did?' came the dragon's response

'I wasn't thinking, clearly,' Kouryu sighed mentally, 'I thought that maybe he'd leave me alone to plan my escape.'

'Not even you are that dumb, Kouryu. What were you really thinking?'

'That I could provoke him into letting me out of this infernal cage and he would fight me one on one.'

The dragon seemed to snort at that, 'You really thought you could win against Madara?'

'No…' Kouryu thought after a moment, 'I thought I could stall him enough for Naruto-kun and the others to get here. And then, since Madara's Chakra level would be depleted, it would be easier to beat him.'

'Well, that didn't happen,' the dragon said with a sigh, 'but at least he left us alone with a clone that probably can't read our thoughts.'

'And what? You have plan to get us out of here?' Kouryu asked, skepticism filling her voice

'Yes, I believe I do.' The dragon replied, a hint of something in her voice.

**And that is the end of this chapter. I still don't have anything to say…so, see you next week. Oh wait, I know what I want to say now. The part about why Kakashi killed Rin is just my interpretation, if this is not in line with the Naruto manga, sorry. They haven't really explained that aspect yet so, maybe my version isn't off? But until they get off of Madara's and Hashirama's past, we'll never know the truth! As always, if you'd like please leave a review, I love to know what you guys think.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	28. And, We Approach the Final Battle

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. As promised, I'm updating this story today as well. Yeah, two stories in one day…bleh, I'm running out of creative energy…well, here's the chapter.**

"Are you sure that this is going work?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke as they pretended to follow Obito. It was pretend because that was their plan and Kakashi, clearly not really caring about the plan at the moment, was walking with Obito, chatting about times long passed with his former comrade.

Sasuke shrugged, "Probably, those two do have more experience in things like this."

"Yeah, but the way they're talking makes it really obvious that that Obito guy is leading us to Madara's hideout."

"Well if Madara shows up out of nowhere," Sasuke said with a raised eyebrow, "we can adlib. We are Ninja after all, so we have to be flexible so the plan will work even if something goes wrong."

"Says the guy who wears the purple bow," Naruto grumbled, "I mean, seriously, if you wanted to send out anymore pheromones then why don't you just walk around naked? Why the hell are you still wearing that thin anyway? It's not like you're allied with Orochimaru anymore."

"And you're so subtle, mister orange jumpsuit?" Sasuke retorted, "At least I have come natural charm to go on. You've just got the 'I'm-so-idiotic-you-can-help-but-think-I'm-cute" thing going, but that's only gotten you the shy girl who can't express her feelings at all."

"At least my outfit became better than it was before! You used to actually look cool and then you got a purple bow and your coolness factor went down to zero."

"Why do you care about what I wear? It's not like I'm around for people to gawk at."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Naruto groaned, "I mean seriously. When we got back from that first mission to find you, I swear, Sakura went on for hours about what you looked like to Ino. That was the most boring conversation me, Shikamaru, and Chouji ever had to sit through." Naruto shuddered at the memory

Sasuke, an annoyed look appearing on his face, was about to say something when Kakashi decided to make his reappearance by saying, "Alright you two, that's enough arguing over outfits. If you ask me, you both look pretty weird. I mean, nothing the people on this show wear seems to blend in with the forest…but, you can blame the author for that."

"Yup," Naruto agreed, "And you're one of the weirdest of them all Sensei. No one but you has his forehead protector over one eye."

Kakashi scowled but ignored Naruto's comment, "Anyway, it's time to put the plan into action. You guys remember what you're supposed to do right?"

Naruto and Sasuke nodded and then the three began pretending to follow Obito for real. As they were walking along, Naruto whispered to Sasuke, "How did Sensei know what we were talking about anyway, he seemed really wrapped up in talking to Obito."

Sasuke chuckled, "That says more about you than it does about Kakashi. If you had been paying attention, like I was, you would know that they were talking about how were reminded those two of themselves. Which, if you ask me, is completely ridiculous; Obito and I are nothing alike."

"Other than the fact that the two of you would do anything for revenge." Naruto mumbled

"Yes," Kakashi cut in again, making the two jump just a little, "You and Uchiha Obito have little in common other than the fact that you're both Uchiha. Naruto and Obito on the other hand…"

Before Kakashi could continue his sentence, Obito turned around and put a finger to his lips signaling that they were almost at the base and that everyone should be quiet now. As everyone approached the hideout, Obito seemed to pause for a minute, making Naruto just a little nervous.

After a few seconds, though, Obito said completely calmly, "Ah, Madara did you capture the girl?"

Madara must have nodded, because there was a lull in the conversation. Then the older Uchiha said, "Did you come alone Obito?"

"Yes," Obito said without hesitation, "I managed to break out of the water prison Kakashi put me in and came straight back here."

There was a narrow pause, and Naruto had a sinking feeling that Madara knew that Obito was helping the other side now, for the time being at least. Naruto's thoughts were confirmed when he heard Madara say, his voice thick with anger, "Why are you lying to me Obito? I thought you wanted what I wanted."

Before the scarred Uchiha could answer Uchiha Madara's accusation, there was rumbling noise accompanied by a small earthquake. Naruto could feel the anger emanating off of Uchiha Madara as he said, "I will deal with you later. It seems that my guest has decided to cause some trouble despite my numerous warnings to her."

And with that, Madara was gone, leaving the other four standing outside the entrance to the Akatsuki's underground hideout wondering what was going on. After some strained silence, Naruto was the first to ask, "What just happened?"

Obito, not sounding very happy with the answer, said, "Your friend, Rinrin Kouryu, is what happened. I think she may have done something that we will all regret."

Then, the group of four began their descent into the hideout, Naruto wondering what Kouryu could have done that would make Madara more angry than he already was. The only thing that Naruto could guess was that she had, somehow, managed to release the Bijuu spirits from the Gedo statue or something along those lines.

But before they could go deeper into the lair, Obito stopped them saying, "Be careful, there's a trap here that will suck out all your Chakra if you step on the wrong square."

Upon further examining of this trap, Naruto saw what looked like a giant rainbow colored checkerboard. The pattern, if there was one, looked to be more like there were squares just placed in random order. With annoyance in his voice, Naruto heard Sasuke ask, "There's no pattern to this is there? How are we supposed to get across?"

"Well," Obito said, "normally I'd just say scale the walls. But I'm pretty sure that Madara made it so that if you did that, all your chakra would be sucked out no matter where you stepped. And since Madara and I usually just teleported through this with my Kamui I don't actually remember what the pattern is."

Naruto, getting an idea said, "then why don't we just use your and Sensei's Kamui to teleport ourselves past here?"

"Yes," Kakashi agreed, "that would probably save us some time. Though, you will probably have to tell me how to use the transportation part of our shared Sharingan."

Obito seemed to think about it for a minute, "That would probably work…" he trailed off thinking a little longer, "But, instead of teaching you how to teleport people, I think I'll just transfer you into the other dimension and then teleport all of us over there instead."

The other three nodded, and Kakashi said, "Yes, that would be faster. And because we don't know what's happening with Kouryu and Madara at the moment, it would be best if we hurried."

Obito seemed to agree with that and the next thing Naruto knew he, Kakashi, and Sasuke were inside a strange dark world. Sasuke, sensing Naruto's confusion said, "I've been here once before. We are, for lack of a better way to put it, inside Uchiha Obito at the moment."

Naruto, not really liking that idea very much, didn't have time to complain about it as, after a few minutes, they were all out of Obito's dimension in a room that seemed to be falling apart. When Naruto finally felt stable enough to examine his surroundings, he was amazed by what he saw. The Gedo statue had a large crack in it, hopefully rendering it useless.

But his hopes were shattered as he heard Madara sneer, "I'm afraid you've arrived too late. But, you've come just in time to see the ten-tails be resurrected."

**And that is the end of this chapter. I think, maybe, I'm going to try and wrap this story up with a nice even thirty chapters. But, I'm not actually sure that that's going to happen as whenever I say I'm going to end this story, it just seems to want to keep itself going. Well, we'll see what happens as we get closer to chapter 30. As always, if you'd like please leave a review I love to know what you guys think. See you next Friday then guys.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	29. How the Crack Formed in the Gedo Statue

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here. Here is the 28****th**** chapter to this story…yeah, that's all I have to say at the moment, so I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. See you at the end.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-Sensei Dattebayo! Yeah, just felt like adding something silly this time ^_^**_

As Naruto and his group were pretending to follow Uchiha Obito to the Akatsuki's (or, what was left of the Akatsuki anyway) hideout and arguing over who wore the most ridiculous outfit in Naruto, Kouryu and her dragon were making their plan to escape from a very annoying prison. Even though Kouryu had told Naruto that she couldn't use her Aojaringan to copy someone's NinJutsu, there were, actually, certain conditions in which she could actually use her ocular Jutsu the same way a Sharingan was used.

So, once Kouryu was sure (from the dragon's and Kurama's conversations in Bijuu space) that Madara was preoccupied in making sure that Obito hadn't betrayed him (like Kouryu hoped), she and her dragon started making preparations to use her Aojaringan like a Kakashi or Sasuke would and copy a fire-style Jutsu.

Even though Madara had created a Kage Bunshin to make sure Kouryu didn't do anything he didn't want her to do, Kouryu knew that her preparations wouldn't actually look like she was doing much of anything until it was too late for the poor clone.

Kouryu then sat in a similar pose as Naruto would if he was gathering sage energy and, in her head, started chanting with the dragon (which somehow, for reasons I don't really feel like thinking of right now, helped the Aojaringan act like a regular Sharingan for one Jutsu). Although this step went much faster if it was done aloud, for the sake of not getting caught and having her time in this chakra-sucking wooden cage last any longer, she made sure that she was quiet for the time being.

Once Kouryu and the dragon had reached the end of their chant, the blue-haired girl made (hopefully) small, inconspicuous, hand-signs for the Uchiha's favorite Jutsu, Katon Gokakyuu no Jutsu, and then blew out a large fireball that burned the cage down to ashes in a matter of seconds.

Predictably, the clone noticed the fire that Kouryu had just caused and was about to yell or do something equally annoying (like poofing itself away so that Madara would know that Kouryu had escaped), Kouryu was on top of the guy, covering his mouth and binding his hands with ice. Kouryu might have destroyed the clone, but, again, the whole clones sharing their knowledge with the original would be rather inconvenient for the dragon Jinchuuriki at the moment.

When Kouryu was sure that the Madara clone wasn't going anywhere any time soon, Kouryu decided that now was the time to put the other part of her plan into action. This plan was, of course, to destroy the Gedo statue before Madara (or Obito, if he decided that he didn't want to help Naruto's group anymore) could get the chance to.

Since Madara had decided, for some reason, to trap Kouryu in the room where the Gedo statue was, this made Kouryu's job that much easier. If Kouryu had to hazard a guess as to why Madara hadn't brought her to another room, it would be because he captured Kouryu on a whim so he didn't have time to bring her elsewhere. That or he had put her in this room because he knew something about the statue that Kouryu didn't.

Not really feeling like dwelling on it for too long, Kouryu started pouring a stream of her icy chakra into the large statue. She would have used that dragon's, but since the dragon had part of the ten-tails' chakra, it would have only made the statue absorb more chakra, making the ten-tails' resurrection happen that much faster, which wouldn't be a good thing; Kouryu was pretty sure that not even her dragon could take the ten-tails on by herself.

After what felt like an eternity, Kouryu felt something give and a saw large crack appeared on the statue, running the length of the top of its head. At the same time, though, Kouryu felt something start to quake and knew that there wouldn't be much time until Madara made another appearance. So, with more fervor than when she started, Kouryu began pouring more icy chakra into the statue.

But sooner that she would have liked, she heard the dragon say, 'Kouryu, Madara is close, I think it's time to change out tactics.'

'No, not yet. I think I can damage the stature some more before he gets here.'

Just as she thought that, though, she heard Madara's voice behind her, much closer than she wanted it to be, "My dear, you seem to have been a very bad girl. I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you now."

And Kouryu had barely enough time to shut off the flow of her Chakra and get out of the way before she felt the white hot sensation of the Uchiha's signature Jutsu at her back. Sighing imperceptibly, Kouryu turned around to see Madara charging at her. And again, she barely had enough time to dodge before a Kunai sliced through the air where he neck had been only moments before.

Madara then growled, "Do you think that I'm going to let you escape with your life after what you've done?"

Kouryu's eyes narrowed, "Do you think I'm going to let you get away with your plan? An eternal Genjutsu isn't going to help anything."

"And what would you know about that? You've never wanted something you can't have?" Madara replied

"What does that have to do with anything? Just because you cast a Genjutsu over the entire world does not mean that people are going to get what they can't have." Kouryu countered

"That is debatable," Madara said, looking angrier than he had earlier, "but that is a topic for another time. Now, you must pay for setting my plans back by giving me the chakra your dragon has."

"I refuse," Kouryu said simply, "I'm not going to help you."

"I'm afraid that you don't have a choice in the matter." And Madara sent wooden tendrils of Mokuton at Kouryu.

Sou Kouryu dodged the chakra sucking wood by jumping up onto the statue, making Madara smirk victoriously. "Ha," the older Uchiha snorted, "how are you going to get away from the statue if you jump onto it?"

"I'm not actually trying to escape," Kouryu shrugged, "I'm going to go inside the statue and crush it from the inside. See you later Madara, I'll leave it to Naruto-kun and his friends to beat you."

And Kouryu somehow disappeared into the statue before Madara could say anything else. He wasn't too worried about what Kouryu had just done though, because there was no way that she could destroy the statue from the inside after all, was there?

But before Madara had time to dwell on what Kouryu had done any further, Obito appeared in the room and let Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi out from that dimension in himself. The four were soon looking at the cracked Gedo statue, a mixture of awed and horrified (Obito) expressions on their faces.

Seeing that Naruto seemed to look the most hopeful out of everyone that had unfortunately gathered in this place, Madara decided to dash the blond Ninja's hopes that Madara's plans had been completely scrapped by saying, ""I'm afraid you've arrived too late. But, you've come just in time to see the ten-tails be resurrected."

The blond idiot, predictably, glared up at Madara and yelled, "What the hell do you mean by that? I doubt that 'resurrection' you want so much is gonna happen though, that crack in your stupid statue makes it seem as if your plans have crashed!"

Madara chuckled darkly, a dangerous sound that had everyone but Naruto wary about what was going to happen next, "Appearances aren't all that they seem Uzumaki brat. I assure that your little friend, Kouryu was it, has made it that much easier for the ten-tails to make its appearance very soon."

Again, predictably, Naruto yelled even louder, "What have you done yo Kouryu?"

Madara ignored Naruto this time and looked at Obito, "Even though you've betrayed me Obito, I'll let it slide this time if you return to my side now."

After a minute, Obito shook his head and said, with only a slight hint of regret in his voice, "I'm sorry Madara, but we don't want the same thing anymore…I don't want to be separated from my comrades any longer."

"That's too bad," Madara sighed, not liking this turn of events but expecting it anyway, "then you'll just have to die along with you precious comrades that you seem to care so much about." And the older Uchiha took out fan looking thing and prepared for battle."

**And that is the end of this chapter. So, over the last week I've been thinking and I have decided that I'm going to end this story with 31 chapters. Why 31 and not 30 you ask? Well, that's because…I want it to be an even number on FFN…You think that makes no sense? Well, you probably forgot that I did a prologue all that time ago so this site thinks that I have one more chapter than I actually do. Or, you might have thought I was just messing up on the numbers and this explanation was completely unnecessary…oh well, no you guys know what my plan is ^_^ As always, if you'd like please leave a review I always love to know what you guys think. Until next week then guys.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


	30. In a Statue and a Fight on a Ledge

**Hey guys, Murayama Tsuru here…it's been a week and a day, the usual break I tend to take for this story…sorry about that, I blame a good book and the fact that Once Upon a Time decided to actually show its new episodes for once. So, without further…excuses for lack of a better term, here's the 29****th**** chapter ^_^ hope it was worth the wait.**

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; it belongs to Kishimoto Masashi-sensei…Dattebayo (just felt like adding that phrase that I don't either).**_

Kouryu's eyes blinked open to the murky blackness that was the inside of the Gedo statue. She hadn't exactly known what to expect, but this definitely wasn't it. Maybe if the spirits of the other Bijuu had been here, Kouryu wouldn't have had to think about where she was.

"Well now that you've awoken, what's next Kouryu? I assume you came here with a plan?" Kouryu started and turned around to see her almost mirror image staring back at her. The only difference was that her reflection's eyes had slit pupils like a snake's and there was a serious look on her face and a pair of sheer, icy wings protruding from her back.

Kouryu's mouth worked for a few moments, but no sound managed to escape her lips until she finally said, "Eh?"

The serious look was momentarily replaced by a small smile and a short chuckle, "Why are you so surprised? This is a sort of Bijuu space, so of course I can take human form."

Kouryu, still in slight shock, asked, "But why would you want to?"

The serious look returned to the ice dragon's face and she shook her head, "On the contrary, I didn't want to. But, this is the Ten-tail's space, and its power calls for my return. We don't have much time, the longer we're here; the less likely it is that we can return. As I said before, what's next Kouryu?"

Kouryu shrugged, making the dragon glare at her, "I'm not sure. Maybe we should try and see if we can find the other Bijuu?"

The dragon shook her head again, "No, I don't sense them. I think they have been too far absorbed into the ten-tails…but, I do sense another presence…"

Kouryu nodded then, "Well, that sounds good enough to me. Shall we go find this presence?"

The dragon looked slightly skeptical, and she opened her mouth to tell Kouryu that the presence that she had sensed didn't exactly seem friendly. But, then Kouryu started walking off and the dragon found that she had no other choice but to follow her Jinchuuriki. She sighed slightly as she started catching up to the blue-haired girl; she had forgotten that Kouryu usually would just go off on her own without the dragon telling her it was dangerous…most of the time.

As the two walked deeper into the Gedo statue, the place continued getting darker and darker. The only indication that the two of them had that they were going in the right direction was that the dragon could sense the earlier presence getting closer.

The two stopped suddenly when they heard what sounded like someone crying. Kouryu and her dragon strained their ears to see if the sound would come again. But, after a few seconds, the sound seemed to have stopped and Kouryu turned to the dragon and asked, "You heard that too right?"

"Yes…" the dragon paused and then, as Kouryu opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, she put a finger to her lips and said, "Shh, the presence I sensed earlier is coming this way now."

Kouryu nodded and closed her mouth. The two then waited for whatever was coming. Since this was the ten-tail's space, there seemed to be no point in trying to hide that they were there since the ten-tails probably knew of their arrival from the second they entered the statue.

But after a while, nothing emerged from the murky depths and the two figured that the ten-tails had either lost interest or had decided to deal with them in other ways. But as Kouryu and the dragon were about to keep moving, the crying they had heard earlier much closer than it had been before.

Then, out of the inky blackness, appeared what looked to be a boy, his arm covering his eyes as he cried softly. The boy had unusual silver hair that reminded Kouryu a little of Kakashi and also a little of Naruto because the kid's hair stuck up in random spikes.

Kouryu's eyes narrowed in confusion and she asked aloud to no one in particular, "Why would the Ten-Tails send a crying child to deal with us? Of all the threatening things, this seems like the least likely…"

Kouryu trailed off and looked to her dragon to see if she had an answer. But Kouryu grew even more confused when she saw that her dragon looked to be paralyzed where she stood. Before Kouryu could ask what was going on, though, the dragon murmured, "Sennin…"

Realization dawned on Kouryu then and she looked back at the crying boy. 'Could he really be the Sage of Six Paths?' She wondered, 'He seems much too young…'

Kouryu then turned back to her dragon and whispered, "Is this really him?"

The dragon nodded slowly, coming out of her shock of seeing the sage after so long, even if it was just an illusion. She then saw Kouryu approaching the boy and fear lanced through her, if this was indeed an illusion that the ten-tails had caused in order to trick her and Kouryu, this could lead to the two inadvertently helping Uchiha Madara with his plan.

But before the dragon warn Kouryu away from talking to the maybe-illusion, the blue-haired Jinchuuriki asked, "What's wrong, why are you crying?"

The boy, still crying softly into his arm hiccupped and said faintly, "Because…these nine, helpless creatures that I tried so hard to save are still in so much pain…"

* * *

As Madara glared at the group of four standing below him, he felt the need to ask, "Obito, why are you doing this? I always imagined that we wanted the same thing, so it doesn't make sense that you would betray me now."

Madara's former comrade actually had the nerve to look a little apologetic for his actions. Eventually, the fool said, "It's not that I betrayed you Madara. It's just that, my goals and yours have changed. It's time to move on from the past."

"Move on?" Madara said, "How are you able to do that? For years, all I've heard from you is how you want to kill Kakashi? How is it that you've moved on so easily?"

"Not sure I actually have…" Obito admitted, "But killing Kakashi isn't going to bring Rin back is it?"

"You don't want to see your precious Rin again, then?"

A hurt look crossed over Obito's features momentarily, then he said, "No, that's not what she would want. Rin may be dead, but she's still in my memories."

"Then you're a fool. And for your betrayal of our ideals, you will pay." Madara growled and then he raised his fan-like thing and swung it in a large, slow arc, sending a wave of hot, firey Chakra toward the four (Ok, so I don't really know how to explain Jutsu very well. So, we're gonna pretend that Ninja don't always announce their attacks in this story).

As the four scattered to dodge the flames, they branched off and began following each everyone. Madara watched, his eyes set in a grim, stony glare as his prey danced about for him. It was only a matter of time before they died or the flames dissipated. He hoped that that would buy enough time for the Gedo statue to absorb that girl's chakra completely.

That girl had, very easily, become the bane of his existence. If only she hadn't come in and whisked his pawns back to Konoha and set up her blasted Jutsu, this would all have come to pass much sooner than it was.

And yet, Rinrin Kouryu was also what was going to finally bring plans for eternal Genjutsu to fruition. Ever since learning that the girl possessed some of the power of the Ten-tails, he had wanted to get his hands on her power.

And he had, and then she made things even easier for him by voluntarily going into the Gedo statue. But, Madara didn't think for a second that things would really be that easy. If they were, he would have taken this girl a long time ago and offered her to the statue.

As Madara was thinking, fuming, about what a hindrance one girl could be, he heard a sound that he did not like. He turned to the statue and saw that the crack had grown larger. Cursing silently, he turned back to the four just in time to see Uzumaki Naruto running across the flame Madara had created and up to him, baring his teeth like the fox that was inside him.

When Naruto reached him, Madara gave the boy a slow, sardonic clap and said, "Well done boy, you've made it to the last boss. Unfortunately for you though, this is where your battle will come to an end. If it's any consolation, though, I'm sure you'll be able to see your little friend one more time before you perish."

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously, "I'm not going to lose to an obsessed Uchiha. And, I'm gonna smash that statue and rescue Kouryu!"

"And how are you going to do that? I hardly think you'll be able to fight me alone."

"And that's where I come in. With me here, you don't stand a chance." Sasuke said, landing gracefully on the ledge Naruto was on. Both Naruto and Madara seemed surprised that Sasuke was there as well (though, Naruto showed his surprise on his face much more obviously than Madara).

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "You're going down Madara!"

"Then bring it on." Madara said as the three charged at each other.

**And that is the end of this chapter…Yeah, so see you guys either next Friday (preferably) or Monday. As always, if you'd like leave a review, I love to know what you guys think.**

**-Murayama Tsuru**


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